Download the Club Bulletin for meeting 923 here.
From President Colin Hill:
Greg Love from the Rotary Club of Kent Town representing Shelterbox gave an interesting talk supported by a video outlining the organisation.
Established in 2000 in the UK, Shelterbox has provided emergency shelter and vital supplies to support communities around the world overwhelmed by disaster and humanitarian crisis. Responses to some well known disasters have included the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the Indonesian-Javanese earthquake in 2006, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Syria crisis, and the biggest storm to ever make landfall – Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. More recently, the Vanuatu cyclone and the Nepal earthquake emergencies have been supported by Shelterbox.
Not quite as well known, Shelterbox has also helped many thousands of people displaced by disasters that are not featured in the media. Simply put, if there are families in need of emergency shelter, Shelterbox does everything they can do to help them.
Sponsoring a box costs $AUD 1,000, including delivery direct to those who need it. Each box bears its own unique number so a donor can track their box all the way to its recipient country via the website. Highly trained ShelterBox Response Teams distribute boxes on the ground, working closely with local communities and support organisations. At the end of the emergency, the recipients keep the box and its contents. Where a box needs to be replenished Shelterbox also has a top-up kit.
Boxes are stored at many locations around the world ready for instant despatch – the Australian repository at a Toll owned Geelong located (Vic) bond-store. Typical contents include:
- A disaster relief tent for a family of up to 10 people and designed to withstand winds up to 100 Km/hr.
- A children’s pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens.
- Water purification equipment.
- A basic tool kit containing a hammer, axe, saw, trenching shovel, hoe head, pliers and wire cutters.
- A wood burning or multi-fuel stove.
- Pans, utensils, bowls, mugs and water storage containers.
Rather remarkably, almost all the effort is done by volunteers, with only one paid employee in Australia. Our club of course, has been a great supporter of Shelterbox over the years.
If you would like to donate to Shelterbox on line then click onto: http://www.shelterboxaustralia.com.au/ Donations are tax deductible and from $200 upwards you can track the final destination of the Shelterbox that you have helped purchase.
Sturt Rotaract Charter Night
The Sturt Rotaract Club Charter night at the Hackney Hotel was great fun with everyone dressed up to the nines. Our gift of club shirts to the Rotaracters was well received and I think we will see them being worn proudly on many occasions in the future.