Red Deer Rotary and Rotaract raising money for ShelterBoxes

All four Rotary Clubs of Red Deer and Rotaract have teamed up to help create awareness and raise funds for a worldwide disaster relief program.

ShelterBox is an emergency disaster relief program that provides immediate shelter and the essential tools and materials needed by those around the world made homeless by natural disasters or conflict.   

After garnering some local interest in the program through a booth set up at a Rebels game October 24, Red Deer Downtown Rotary Club President Raymond Rogers says they’re hoping to raise money to buy as many ShelterBoxes as possible.

“ShelterBox is a fully-equipped tent in a box,” says Rogers. “There are cooking utensils in there, some basic tools, water filtration kits, some solar lighting and people use them for their homes.”

Rogers says Red Deer Rotary Clubs sent ShelterBoxes to Nepal after the earthquakes in 2015, with some there still living in tents two years later.

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“They’re sent to areas throughout the world, Bangladesh has some recent flooding, there are teams in Mexico and the eastern Caribbean assessing the needs in those two areas after the hurricanes and the recent earthquake in Mexico,” says Rogers. “I believe there are some in Syria that are helping out with the refugee effort after the conflict.”

Rogers says Red Deer Rotary Clubs got involved with the ShelterBox program a number of years ago, raising over $80,000 in the past five or six years.

“Each ShelterBox itself is worth $1,200, a fully-equipped one” Rogers says. “You can’t predict when natural disasters are going to happen, so it’s always nice to have these boxes available for areas that suffer some kind of disaster or conflict.”

To help or get more information on the ShelterBox program, visit shelterbox.org or contact a Red Deer Rotary or Rotaract Club member.