Shelterboxes for Pakistan 2010

 We all are bombarded with requests for money, it seems, every few months for one disaster or another and we get to the stage that we don't know what, or who, to support at times of such great need......What about considering joining our Rotary Club in the support of the Rotary-initiated charity Shelterbox? A Shelterbox contains everything a family ( or extended family ) of ten people needs to survive after disaster has taken away their homes, belongings, family members.....everything.

To raise money for Pakistan this year we had three stalls at local shows and raised money for one shelterbox ourselves and linked with the Parish of Wigmore Abbey to raise money for another five boxes. Read the article below as to how this happened......

On the weekend of August 14^th and 15^th Knighton & District Rotary Club PP Tony Good arranged for the club to have a stall at the Aardvark Books " Civil War Skirmish Reenactment" in Brampton Bryan, Shropshire. Here we ran a tombola and had a Rotary Shelterbox on display to raise money for Shelterbox's involvement in the Pakistan flood disaster. We also had posters to explain about Shelterbox and Rotary, as well as a coin spinner in which donations were placed ( see photo with Rotarians Jean Good and Ivan Jones in action )

One of the visitors to the event was Jo Catling, whose husband Mike is the Rector of Wigmore Abbey parish. Jo was very excited about the shelterbox as she and Mike had been looking for a way to support the disaster relief efforts in Pakistan. The fact that the parishioners would be able to see what their money was going to was a real bonus, and as a consequence we offered to loan the shelterbox for one of their services at their church in Leintwardine. It was a well attended service, with parishioners from the 9 villages in the parish being in attendance. ( See photos with Reverend Mike chatting to a parishioner) The response to this display has been astounding, with money for 5 shelterboxes having been raised in the past month with more on the way. DG Donna has written to the Catlings to express her thanks for their enthusiastic support of Shelterbox and of, indirectly, Rotary. Very inspirational and we are hoping for some press coverage shortly