The ShelterBox

I just returned from a Rotary lunch where they raised enough money ($5,000.00) for five more of these ShelterBoxes to be sent to Haiti. They had one set up and you could go inside and see all the contents that each ShelterBox contains. The main thing is the 10 man tent, but more than that each one provides emergency shelter and relief (with a bunch of supplies) for 10 people for a period of time long past the immediate days after the disaster.

Conceived and developed by Tom Henderson, a member of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, Cornwall District, U.K., the ShelterBox is a self-contained emergency shelter unit, complete with emergency survival supplies. Each ShelterBox is designed for up to ten people.

The international relief agency Feed the Children, has called Tom's Shelter Box "the best disaster relief tool they have seen in their 20 years of experience." It even brings an implement called the life straw (10 of them in each box) which a person can dip into the foulest, most disease ridden water and suck through to drink clean, purified life-sustaining H2O. The life straws last up to a year.

To see what these boxes look like, learn all about the contents of the boxes and the organization's relief efforts click here.

They really are a cool idea and a wonderful way to help those in need.