Submitted by: Allison Kingston, Community Fundraising Coordinator, ShelterBox Canada, Rotaract Club of Toronto
ShelterBox and Rotary are official project partners in international disaster relief. ShelterBox is a registered charity independent of Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation
In November, ShelterBox awarded Rotary International with its first Global Humanitarian Service Award, in recognition of Rotary’s outstanding partnership throughout the years.
Founded in 2000 by Rotary members in the United Kingdom, ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and essential supplies to help communities through their toughest times. ShelterBox and Rotary officially became project partners in disaster relief in 2012.
Rotary has been instrumental in ShelterBox’s growth, helping to transform ShelterBox into an internationally recognized disaster relief charity. The mutual benefits are enormous. ShelterBox receives networking, logistical and financial support from Rotary and, equally, acts as a catalyst in encouraging people all over the world to become involved with their local Rotary club.
ShelterBox CEO Sanj Srikanthan presented the award to Rotary International General Secretary and CEO John Hewko.
“It is with great pride that we celebrate our longest standing partner and the cornerstone upon which ShelterBox is built,” said Srikanthan. “Rotary is truly in the DNA of everything we do.”
The two organizations have helped over 1.7 million people in 100 countries. More recently, the partnership has delivered lifesaving shelter and aid to families, protecting them from the threat of coronavirus.
“This award is for every Rotary member in the world who has ever enabled this life-saving work,” said Hewko. “Together, we should take great pride in this achievement of supporting families recovering from disaster and conflict around the world.”
In 2020 alone, thanks to the help of Rotary, ShelterBox was able to support over 40,000 families, equating to almost 200,000 people in 11 countries. One of these responses was in Northern Cameroon where Fanne (pictured above) is living. In Cameroon, 96.7% of people interviewed felt that ShelterBox support had a positive impact on the wider community.
A mother to eight children, Fanne lives in Minawao camp having had no choice but to leave her disabled husband behind when she fled from Boko Haram. With our support she was able to move out of a collective centre and start to rebuild a home. She said: “Home is important to anybody because it is the place you have some rest after a stressful day. It’s like a refuge, it keeps you safe from rain, sun and wind.”
Looking to learn more about Rotary and ShelterBox’s partnership? Visit our Action Toolkit where you can read more stories from families like Fanne’s, request a speaker for your club and so much more.