Ashburnham-Westminster Rotary Club Event Proceeds to Benefit Haiti
The Ashburnham-Westminster Rotary Club Comedy Night Fundraiser on Saturday, January 30th was a night out for a good cause. This year our local Rotary Club is donating all of the proceeds to relief for the people of Haiti. Read on for more information about the ShelterBoxes that will be donated to the people of Haiti.
About ShelterBox (from www.shelterboxusa.org):
The purpose of ShelterBox USA, Inc. is to provide victims of disaster with shelter, by supporting the efforts of the Shelter Box Trust. The function of ShelterBox USA, Inc. is, within the USA, to raise the money that provides the shelter for disaster victims. ShelterBox is a grassroots Rotary club project which has rapidly grown to an international level.
The ShelterBox project was conceived and developed by Tom Henderson, a member of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, Cornwall District, in Great Britain as their Millennium Service Project. Struck with the urgent world-wide need for a self-contained emergency shelter unit when disaster occurs, Tom designed a tent, researched suppliers and, through trial and error, developed the ShelterBox.
The international relief agency Feed the Children, has called Tom's ShelterBox ‘the best disaster relief tool they have seen in their 20 years of experience'. Working primarily through UK Rotary clubs, Tom and his Rotary club has succeeded in exposing the ShelterBox project to over 25 million Brits and, as a result, distributed provided shelter for approximately one-third of a million people in the last six years.
Inside a ShelterBox
ShelterBoxes are sponsored by service clubs, (Rotary Clubs), school and church groups, businesses and individuals, etc. Materials are ordered from a range of suppliers selected for general use, long-life, quality and price. ShelterBoxes are prepared and packed using all new materials as delivered from manufacturers, at the ShelterBox warehouse based in Helston, Cornwall. The standard ShelterBox weighs 110 lbs. and has approximate dimensions 2'3" x 1'4" x 11". They are sealed and banded for transit and security. Box contents vary depending on the nature of the disaster requiring their use. Boxes Are sometimes packed with two 10-person tents in them, (to the exclusion of some smaller items) to maximize shelter capacity. Some of the selected Box items that are available for inclusion in the Box are:
• One 49 gallon box (The ShelterBox) initially the container for delivery of the materials listed below. Once delivered, can be used as water tank, food store, cot, table, etc.
• One ten-person tent, including two fabric interior privacy partitions, outer fly-sheet and repair kit. These tents are considered ‘winter suitable’ by international relief standards.
• Vinyl insulated sleeping mats and lightweight thermal blankets. More compact than sleeping bags, these mats and blankets have multiple uses. The blanket can also be fashioned to catch water, as a tarp, etc. while the mat also serves as a ground ‘table’ for meals, or tent rugs.
• One pack of 180 water purification tablets or a water purification kit; and one 5 gallon flat-pack water container (Each tablet will purify a full container of water providing 1,800 gallons of clean drinking water which should be sufficient for a family of ten for up to three months).
• Two 2.1 gallon, collapsible, plastic water carriers.
• One collapsible trenching shovel
• Rope, 164 foot
• Repellant-treated mosquito netting
• Ten PVC Ponchos/ ten HD plastic bags
• Tool kit in canvas bag: hachet, jack-knife, screwdriver, hammer, hoe head etc.
• Multi-fueled cook stove
• Eating utensils: enamel plates/cups
• Children's activity kit-simple school supplies, stickers and coloring book
The contents are under continuous review. A small stock of wind-up radios (short-wave and FM) has been obtained to substitute a sleeping bag in every tenth box should such a requirement arise.