It all began about a decade ago when Tom Henderson, a Rotarian in England, was watching a television report one evening involving a disaster in the world where bread for the victims was being thrown on the floor. This upset him as he felt that the aid was not being given out with proper dignity for the victims.

He decided then and there to do something to change this and this led to what has become the largest Rotary project in the history of the organization, all in just nine years.

The four principles that he developed on which the program would be based were shelter, warmth, comfort and dignity.

“It’s not a big deal, it’s real simple,” he said in describing the concept. In addition, he knew that there are 32,000 Rotary Clubs around the world which would help with the program. He viewed this as having 32,000 offices for the Shelter Box program around the world, with over one million people ready to help.

Acting as a committee of one,Mr. Henderson began a search everywhere for a box which would be big enough to handle relief supplies for ten people and yet would be small enough for two people to carry. He searched literally around the world and eventually found an appropriate green box – where? – at a hardware store right near his home. He then arranged for the tent and other supplies that go in the box and took the idea to his home Rotary Club which endorsed the idea, encouraging him to pursue it as a Rotary project. He visited other Rotary Clubs in the United Kingdom and even snuck into the April 2000 national conference to promote the idea.

Word of mouth took over and things started to happen.

“It gathered this momentum,”Mr. Henderson said, telling how the first donations for the program started to arrive, with one Rotary Club donating enough for 29 boxes.

Now, nine years later, $50million in total has been donated, with 800,000 people in over 60 countries around the world having been helped by the program which focuses on getting disaster relief in the form of shelter to the most needy people in the quickest time possible when a natural disaster happens.

“Keep it simple, do it now”is how Mr. Henderson describes it.

He said that the role of the Shelter Box program is to get to the disaster area with shelter relief while the disaster is still unfolding. While not first responders to a disaster,Shelter Box representatives should be on the scene within 48 or 72 hours of the disaster to help the victims and provide them with their emergency shelter and supplies. The tents and associated supplies are meant to last for three to six months until local governments can provide more permanent shelter and relief.

The Shelter Box program does not get involved with providing food or sanitation and other forms of relief.

“We’re in the business of emergency shelter disaster relief,” Mr. Henderson makes clear.

When a disaster happens, the Shelter Box program contacts Rotarians in the affected country to obtain information that is trustworthy about the disaster. These local Rotarians are also asked to provide support in terms of meeting the Shelter Box shipment at the airport and getting the Shelter Boxes through customs. This goes back to Mr. Henderson’s initial thought of using the presence of Rotarians around the world to facilitate the Shelter Box program.

“Thirty-two thousand offices around the world, one million friends, what a thing to say,” he reminded those at the dinner.

The delivery of the Shelter Box relief on the ground becomes the responsibility of members of a Shelter Box Response Team who arrange for the local transportation of the Shelter Boxes to the disaster zone and who are mandated to get the aid to the people who need it the most.

Each Shelter Box is given a number which the Rotary Club or school or other organization which has donated its $1,200 cost receives so that the donor can track where in the world that particular box has been sent to help victims of a natural disaster. In addition, a certificate is placed in the box identifying the donor. The box number is put on the Shelter Box website and the donor is informed about where the box has gone.

Mr. Henderson admits to having an ambitious five year plan for the Shelter Box program, with the goal of providing emergency shelter relief in natural disasters to 500,000 people a year.

“Why not 500,000 people per year,” he said. “Why not?”

In the United Kingdom,Shelter Box is forming a partnership with the country’s 26 million Boy Scouts to gain their support for the program. There are also plans to try to involve the country’s 40,000 schools with this humanitarian aid project.

“What a great thing for those children to go home and talk to their parents about humanitarian aid,” Mr.Henderson said.

Those at the dinner also heard from Ron and Claire Noseworthy, two retired Canadians who have gone through the rigorous training and are now Shelter Box Response Team members,travelling to disaster areas to deliver the Shelter Boxes.

Mr. Noseworthy said that he and his wife, who are both retired, became involved because they were looking to give back something to those in the Third World and as a Rotarian, he was aware of the Shelter Box program.

The Shelter Boxes shipped to disaster areas are customized to a certain degree. For example, a wintertime disaster in Nepal would see more blankets put in the Shelter Boxes while a summertime flood in Bangladesh would see a different mixture of supplies in the Shelter Box.

Claire Noseworthy, who was part of a Shelter Box Response Team to China after recent earthquakes there, remarked on the gratitude and thanks which are received from the victims on the ground.

“You can see the gratitude in their eyes,” she said.

Her husband Ron, who was part of a Shelter Box Response Team to Bangladesh after flooding there,echoed her thought, noting the thanks which the flood victims there offered as the tents were delivered.

“Clearly you see the dignity in these times of situations,” he said, adding that it is this respect for the dignity of the victims that is one of the things that he likes about the Shelter Box program.

At the dinner, a number of Rotary Clubs from the Ottawa area made presentations to Mr. Henderson involving Shelter Box donations. These included donations from the Rotary Clubs of West Ottawa, Arnprior, Brockville, Petawawa, Kanata Sunrise, and Stittsville.

Mr. Henderson thanked the mall for the donations, leaving them with one last sentiment: “Just remember, we always need that one next box.” He received a standing ovation from those in attendance.

The Rotary Club of Ottawa – Stittsville has been a strong supporter of the Shelter Box program. Last February, the Club setup a Shelter Box tent at Village Square in downtown Stittsville, with several participants spending 48 hours living out of the tent. This raised not only awareness of the program in the community but also raised $7,200, allowing for the purchase of six Shelter Boxes. This year the Club has raised enough for another Shelter Box and plans to do more. The Stittsville Rotary Club has donated ten Shelter Boxes in total to date, with the boxes going to the Congo, Sri Lanka and the Phillipines.

Stittsville Rotarian Leo Maiorino, who is the Shelter Box ambassador for the area, has challenged thearea Rotary Clubs to provide 100 Shelter Boxes this year. He said that this could be done if the Clubs all got a local school involved, such as has happened in Stittsville with Stittsville Public School raising funds for the program last year. The two boxes which resulted from the Stittsville Public School fundraising both were sent to help in Niger.