Shelterbox
20 years of ShelterBox
This is one of the recommended routes for Rotary members and the public who are looking to donate following humanitarian and environmental disasters and crises.
In 2000, a Rotarian, Tom Henderson, after watching scenes of a natural disaster, asked himself the same question, and started packing what he considered essential items for those who had lost everything and needed for survival.
His Rotary club Helston Lizard, in Cornwall, adopted Tom’s idea as their Millenium project. Shelterbox was born and amazingly the box and its contents have hardly changed. An industrial unit in Helston was adopted as a storage and distribution centre, even the community became involved whenever a disaster was announced.
Since then, it has grown through Rotary to be an international disaster relief charity, providing emergency shelter in some of the most hard-to-reach places in the world.
In the last 20 years, we have supported 1.5 million people in nearly 100 countries, and we haven’t stopped.
In 2020, coronavirus has made us adapt how we work to reach even more vulnerable families. With your support, we can do more.
RECOVERY STARTS WITH SHELTER
Having somewhere dry and warm to sleep, to prepare meals and be with your family is vital for starting the long process of rebuilding your life.
ShelterBox teams work with disaster-hit families around the world offering emergency shelter and other essential items to support them in rebuilding their lives.
Every disaster is different and so is every community, so we spend time with those affected to make sure we can offer the right support at the right time to help them recover.
Our response teams work with disaster-hit families around the world, offering emergency shelter and other essential items to support them in rebuilding their lives.
The teams can travel by boat, helicopter or tuk-tuk to get to the families who need your support – whatever it takes to get to the people who have lost their homes to disaster.
Our vision is to see a world where no family is without shelter after disaster.
If you want to support Shelter Boxes in this 20th year celebration, why not take part in a sponsored challenge and consider the 20 for 20 challenge, 20 miles for 20 years, which can be completed by individuals, as a group, or even a relay team. The challenge is inspired by Helston-Lizard Rotary Club who are marking the anniversary with a cycle in aid of Shelter Box.
