Help Save Japanese Disaster Victims!
Emergency Shelter Boxes to be Shipped to Japan
The Rotary Club of Dexter, in conjuction with the Dexter's Pub, will hold a fundraiser on March 31, 2011, from 11 am to 11pm to provide Emergency Shelter Boxes for victims of the devastating earthquakes.
Peter Theocharakis, owner of the Dexter Pub, has volunteered to donate 10% of gross sales for the day to the Dexter Rotary Club Foundation. In addition, the Rotary Club of Dexter will have a small auction at Dexter's Pub to raise additional funds for Shelter Boxes. Auction items may be dropped off at the offices of Fink Law in Dexter, MI. Donations made out to the Dexter Rotary Club Foundation for Shelter Boxes are tax deductable. For further information, or to make donations, contact Larry Courson at larrycourson@peaceaa.net or at 734-424-0899.
Each Shelter Box cost $1,000 and provides emergency housing and supplies to support up to ten families. Below is what is contained in these Shelter Boxes:
Fit for Purpose
- Every item is durable, practical, and brand new. The box itself is lightweight and waterproof, and has been used for a variety of purposes in the past –from water and food storage containers to a cot for a newly born baby.
Adaptability
- We keep a broad range of equipment in stock so we can adapt the contents of a box to a specific disaster. For example, following the two Javanese earthquakes in 2006, when some resources were available locally or could be salvaged from buildings, the overwhelming need was for shelter, so we just sent tents, packing two in each box.
Shelter
- At the heart of every Shelter Box is a disaster relief tent for a family of up to ten people. The tent is custom made for Shelter Box by Vango, one of the world's leading tent manufacturers, and is designed to withstand extreme temperatures, high winds, and heavy rainfall. Internally, each tent has privacy partitions that allow recipients to divide the space as they see fit.
Warmth and Protection
- In addition to the tent, there is a range of other survival equipment, including thermal blankeds and insulated ground sheets, essential in areas where temperatures plummet at nightfall. Where malaria is prevalent, mosquito nets are supplied, as well as life-saving means of water purification. Water supplies often become contaminated after a major disaster, as infrastructure and sanitation systems are destroyed, this presents a secondary, but no less dangerous, threat to survivors after the initial disaster itself.
Self Sufficiency
- A basic tool kit containing a hammer, axe, saw, trenching shovel, hoe head, pliers, and wire cutters enable people to improve their immediate environment by chopping firewood to digging a latrine, for example. Then, when it is possible, to start repairing or rebuilding the home they were forced to leave.
A Heart to the Home
- Key items are either a wood burning or multi-fuel stove. The multi-fuel stove can burn anything from diesel to old paint. Some boxes also contain our specially designed wood burning Frontier Stove. This provides the heart of the new home where water is boiled, food is cooked, and families congregate. In addition, there are pans, utensils, bowls, mugs, and water storage containers.
A Smile
- A children's pack contianing drawing books, crayons, and pens. For children who have lost most, if not all, of their possessions, these small gifts are treasured.
