February 28, 2021
Story by C. Richard Campbell
Allison Kingston, Community Fundraising Coordinator of ShelterBox Canada visited the Club via Zoom on February 8, 2021. ShelterBox is one of a number of Rotary International partners. The Rotary Club of Simcoe has a long history of contributing to ShelterBox.
If you are new to ShelterBox, this is a brief introduction. In 2000, the Rotary Club of Herston-Lizard in Cornwall, United Kingdom started ShelterBox as a club project and it quickly became a success story. In 2021, the purchase price of a ShelterBox is $ 1,000 US. You donate the $ 1,000 US for a ShelterBox which is allocated along with others to strategic places around the world for distribution when there is a natural disaster or when people are displaced from their homes due to war and conflict. Once a need for shelter is identified, ShelterBox has response teams to travel the world.
Edited Screenshot, Allison Kingston, Community Fundraising Coordinator, ShelterBox Canada
The mission of ShelterBox is "Our purpose is to provide emergency shelter to families who have lost their home to disaster, enabling them to rebuild their lives".
In addition to shelter, ShelterBox dispenses tool kits to help families.
Edited Screenshot
There is a distinct emphasis on families in ShelterBox's disaster relief efforts. While disasters such as hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and flooding are unpredictable and cyclical, there is no shortages in the world of war and conflict that displaces millions of people from their homes. Now, ShelterBox has COVD-19 in the much of the developing world to add to war and conflict and natural disasters.
Edited Screenshot
Allison told the Club about ShelterBox's on the ground operations in the Philippines ("...most disaster-hit country in the world..."), Cameroon, Caribbean hurricane relief and Burkina Paso. This was just a selection of the many disaster relief efforts in so many of the world's countries.
The Rotary Club of Simcoe is proud to partner and contribute financially to ShelterBox Canada. Although $ 1,000 US for a kit may be beyond an individual's financial ability, you can contribute smaller amounts for the purchase of kit components such as $ 25.00 for a Solar Light or a Kitchen Set (consisting of pots and pans plus utensils) for $ 60.00. If you wish to joins us in supporting ShelterBox or even volunteering, visit http://www.sherterboxcanada.org