ShelterBox USA
Thursday 16 May 2013
French exchange students in El Paso cook up an idea to raise funds for ShelterBox
This year, the Rotary Club of El Paso and the Camino Real Rotary Club, as part of their Rotary Exchange Program, two students from northern France, Coline Fertin and Camille Plays, for a District Challenge to raise money for an international program. Together, they organized an event that raised over $7,000 for ShelterBox.
With support from their Rotary clubs, Coline and Camille prepared a French meal and contacted Jon Paul Delamotte, a French Cordon Bleu who was in town. After meeting, the chef graciously donated his time and allowed the students to design a menu based off the food they missed most.
To ensure the event was successful, Coline and Camille promoted it throughout the Rotary community in El Paso, obtained sponsors for four of the seven courses, and negotiated the venue’s services at cost.
“ShelterBox is an amazing Rotary program,” said Deborah Falknor, a member of the El Paso Rotary Club. “ShelterBox allows Rotary to express the highest amount of compassion for people who are coping with ultimate loss through our first response, leadership, skill and love of mankind. This undertaking is one of the easiest projects to raise funds for – you need a simple plan, people committed to working for the event, and the passion for ShelterBox.”
With about a 100 guests in attendance, Coline and Camille exceeded their goal of raising $3,000—collected $7,000 in total to support ShelterBox’s humanitarian relief work, helping to bring shelter, warmth and dignity to families affected by disasters around the world.