Because ShelterBox helps at home too! Apologies for cutting and pasting but you really want the news from ShelterBox not "b.s." from me. After all you know how I feel about ShelterBox!
But I had to share this statement with you!
To make a call to ShelterBox on Tuesday and to have a team on the ground on Thursday with a significant order placed by Friday is amazing. On behalf of all of the Rotarians in the affected regions of Eastern New Jersey of Districts 7500 and 7640, we cannot thank ShelterBox enough!” --District Governor Joan Vas 2012-2013
Even though Hurricane Sandy no longer dominates the news, ShelterBox Response Teams (first responders) are still hard a work supporting those who lost so much in this epic disaster.
ShelterBox is deploying aid in the Northeast of the U.S. in addition to having teams in Haiti and Cuba. ShelterBox has distributed more than a thousand blankets in the Far Rockaways and Long Island as well as parts of northern NJ. Our second team worked with Rotary District 7500 to deliver aid along the eastern seaboard of NJ. Thankfully, tented shelter was not needed since sufficient temporary housing and shelters were available. The ShelterBox team met with officials to see what was missing from aid that they were receiving from charities around the nation and it was determined that more blankets, hygiene kits, hats mittens and scarves and other items were still needed
In total, 6,000 people will receive assistance from ShelterBox in the Northeast U.S.
As a Rotary Project Partner, part of ShelterBox’s immediate response to Super Storm Sandy was to reach out to the most-impacted districts to check on Rotarians and learn what their communities were experiencing in the wake of the disaster. With the “service above self” ethos very much in their hearts Rotarians have joined forces with ShelterBox to provide shelter, warmth and dignity to vulnerable families in the Northeast United States.
One of the first calls ShelterBox USA leadership placed following Sandy was to District Governor Joan Vas of District 7500. She along with Rotarians from District 7640 were later able to provide ShelterBox with information on impacted communities and anticipated needs.
Joan describes her experiences here: “For many years, District 7500 has always responded generously to disasters around the world in the form of donations to ShelterBox. I am very pleased to see that in our time of need, ShelterBox responded immediately. To make a call to ShelterBox on Tuesday and to have a team on the ground on Thursday with a significant order placed by Friday is amazing. On behalf of all of the Rotarians in the affected regions of Eastern New Jersey of Districts 7500 and 7640, we cannot thank ShelterBox enough!” --District Governor Joan Vas 2012-2013
Many thanks to the Rotary clubs and districts who make contributions to ShelterBox to ensure we have the supplies and trained volunteers needed to immediately respond to the needs of families impacted by disaster. In addition to our efforts in the U.S., ShelterBox is actively distributing aid to Syrian refugees in Iraq, flooding survivors in Uganda and Nigeria, families made homeless by an earthquake in Guatemala and those impacted by Hurricane Sandy in Haiti. To learn more ShelterBox’s current activity around the world, please click here- http://www.shelterboxusa.org/...
As a Rotary Project Partner, we are proud to partner with Rotarians in the field and here at home in America to provide shelter, warmth and dignity to those in their greatest hour of need.
Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.
Alan Monroe
Getting my Paul Harris Fellow Award from my old Rotary Club a few weeks ago on a recent trip back to Canada.
http://shelterboxusa.org/...