The president of Budleigh Salterton Lions Club, Richard Allen, has visited the headquarters of ShelterBox in Cornwall, a charity the club has been supporting for several years.
ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and aid to people caught up in disasters around the world. Over the last 20 years it has helped families whose lives have been devastated by hurricanes, earthquakes, conflicts, droughts, cyclones and other incidents.
Richard visited ShelterBox’s premises in Truro on Friday, November 19. He said: "It was such an honour and a privilege to meet Anna Dixon, Regional Director West Africa, and to see the actual ShelterBoxes and ShelterKits that are provided to people that are in crisis all over the world.
“The Budleigh Lions Club have made a number of donations to this wonderful charity over the years. We recently made a donation of £560 to support their work distributing emergency shelter to families in Haiti who lost their homes due to the earthquake earlier this year."
The 7.2 magnitude earthquake destroyed nearly 53,000 homes and severely damaged 77,000 more. People who lost their homes were left exposed to the elements, with little privacy or protection from the ongoing severe weather and other threats.
ShelterBox and Habitat for Humanity, in close coordination with government and local officials, are distributing shelter kits that include tarpaulins, tools and fixings, thermal blankets, solar lights, kitchen sets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and water carriers. They are also giving training and technical support to people using the items. Habitat for Humanity is using its strong local connections to run and monitor the distributions while also identifying shelter needs in communities.
A ShelterBox is designed to help people who have lost everything. They are filled with practical tools that create the framework for everyday life. They cost on average £590. ShelterKits are customised and are packed full of tools and heavy duty materials to help families repair their homes and recover from disaster. They cost £69.
ShelterBox can be contacted via their website
If you would like to get involved and make a difference you can contact Budleigh Lions Club at budleighlions.com
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