Officials from The Bridge of Hope are coordinating with the city of Kirkland to donate a surplused Kirkland Fire Aid car to assist with the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Mike Jeffery is Director of Operations for The Bridge of Hope, a nonprofit organization located in Maple Valley, as well as Battalion Chief for the Kirkland Fire Department. His wife, Geri, is Executive Director of the nonprofit.

The nonprofits mission is to partner with the people of Sierra Leone to provide access to the basic needs of life. One basic need is the safe and sterile transportation of effected and non-effected Ebola patients.

The donated aid car will be used to transport non-effected Ebola patients to Magbenteh Hospital in the town of Makeni, in Sierra Leone. According to a fire department press release, there are only three such aid cars serving the over five million people within the country.

The Jefferys will coordinate their travel plans to Sierra Leone to coincide with the aid cars arrival and assist with needed training, according to the release. Once it leaves the Port of Seattle, it will take six to eight weeks to arrive at its destination. Representatives from the country’s Ministry of Health will receive the vehicle, which comes with over five tons of donated medical supplies.

Sierra Leone lies on the west coast of Africa bordered by Guinea, Liberia and the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the poorest countries in the world. Representatives from The Bridge of Hope have made more than 20 visits to the country since 2005 bringing medical supplies, fire fighter equipment and school supplies.