If you've seen the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey over the past weeks in the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. The sad statistics continue to grow with each day as Hurricane Irma also approaches, and there is no question that these are unprecedented natural disasters, among the worst in US history, with levels of damage expected to be near those caused by Hurricane Katrina.
As Rotarians who always place Service Above Self, we ask “what can we do to help?”.
The answer is simple: ShelterBox is Rotary’s one and only official disaster relief Project Partner, selected for this role because the leadership of Rotary International knows that our highly trained response teams and support personnel share our values as Rotarians, and in many cases ARE Rotarians.
Our ShelterBox Response Teams (SRT), each of whom are Rotarians, are on the ground in Texas, and are in nearly constant communication with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in assessing the needs and potential solutions. We are in communication with each of the District Governors in the impacted areas. A large shipment of our ShelterBox tents are now in the disaster area, and one possible solution to the needs of the thousands of displaced families is a “shelter-in-shelter” system. These tents within the evacuation centers offer families a private space to help preserve dignity, security and aid in the recovery process, particularly where extended stays are likely.
The immediate response to Hurricane Harvey was made possible by the past support of Rotarians. If you would like to make a donation visit www.shelterboxusa.org/donate.