By supporting international disaster relief charity ShelterBox

Through their ongoing support of international disaster relief charity ShelterBox, The Rotary Club of Chiswick and Brentford is helping victims of the earthquake that struck central Italy in the early hours of 6th April.

A ShelterBox Response Team travelled from France. "Having assessed the information coming through this morning, we dispatched a team first thing to the earthquake zone,” says General Manager Lasse Petersen.

“They will report back and we will decide our level of response. We have ShelterBoxes packed and ready to be sent out immediately.”

ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity, and a global Rotary club project, which exists to provide humanitarian aid worldwide in the form of shelter, warmth and dignity for people displaced by natural and other disasters.

An initiative of Rotarian Tom Henderson, a former Royal Navy search and rescue diver, ShelterBox started in 2000 as a project of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, Cornwall. ShelterBox, now the largest Rotary Club project in the world, has raised over £25 million and responded to over 80 major disasters including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) and has operated in 57 countries.

Each ShelterBox contains a 10-person tent, blankets, water purification and cooking equipment, basic tools, a stove and other essential equipment. Every box is individually numbered and can be tracked by donors. Each box costs (UK: £490) – including the cost of all materials, packing, storage, transport worldwide and distribution to the needy. Best value is achieved by working closely with leading suppliers, all items being obtained at below trade price. Assuming six month’s use, this equates to shelter and warmth for less than 30 pence per person per day.

All aid delivery is undertaken by international volunteer ShelterBox Response Team members who have carried out extensive training with ShelterBox. By working with local Rotary clubs in the countries where disasters have occurred, ShelterBox is often able to get aid where it is needed faster than any other organisation.

April 21, 2009