Budleigh Salterton Lions Club President Richard Allen visited the headquarters of ShelterBox in Truro on Friday.
Shelterbox is a registered charity dedicated to providing aid to families devastated by disaster, to give them safe shelter and the tools necessary to rebuild their homes, their communities and their lives.
Over the last 20 years they have provided emergency shelter and disaster relief in 97 countries. In that time they have supported families to get back on their feet after hurricanes, earthquakes, conflicts, droughts, cyclones and more.
Richard said: “It was such an honour and a privilege to meet Anna Dixon, 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.”
ShelterBox teams work with disaster-hit families around the world, offering emergency shelter and other essential items to support them in rebuilding their lives. Having somewhere dry and warm to sleep, to prepare meals and be with your family is vital for starting the long process of rebuilding your life.
Every disaster is different and so is every community, so ShelterBox spends time with those affected to make sure they can offer the right support at the right time to help them recover.
ShelterBox and Habitat for Humanity have been distributing emergency shelter aid to communities who lost homes in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that recently devastated southwestern Haiti.
The 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 in hard-hit communities. The kits include tarpaulins, tools and fixings, thermal blankets, solar lights, kitchen sets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and water carriers.
ShelterBox is supplying emergency shelter aid as well as 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 shelterbox.org
If you would like to get involved and make a difference you can contact Budleigh Lions Club at budleighlions.com