On Friday, RCSE had the pleasure of learning about ShelterBox USA. Before the presentation began, Laura Lane announced that the meeting at Second Harvest had been postponed to a later date. After all Rotary business items were discussed and Happy dollars collected, Cheri Dean introduced Elliott Williams.
ShelterBox began as a Rotary project for a Rotary club in the UK 25 years ago. Since then, ShelterBox has become the official disaster relief department of Rotary International. Three million people throughout the world have been impacted and helped by this organization. As their work revolves around disasters, they have pre-positioned aid stations in various locations which allows them to respond quickly when they are needed.
The average price per box is $1000. Many different types of shelters are provided as well as other items such as bedding, heaters, solar lights, and kitchen sets. They are constantly measuring their impact by monitoring, evaluating, and learning in order to ensure that what they are sending into the disaster areas are useful. He then gave examples of how the organization has helped in Grenada, Bangladesh, and North Carolina. Even though ShelterBox is a small organization, they have a wide reach and are able to provide for people in need because of their connections with Rotary.