The Rotary Club of Englewood is involved in helping others in need locally, nationally, and internationally. Throughout the world, more than 12 million people are homeless at any given time due natural and man-made disasters.
There are no warnings of when or where the next disaster will strike, but Shelter Box’s ability to respond quickly requires a supply of Boxes to be ready in our warehouse for shipment. The response to tsunami needs has depleted all reserves.
The civil wars and genocides taking place in many countries, especially Liberia and Uganda, are leaving tens of thousands of children and widows without homes. Many are seeking sanctuary near churches and missions as they try to go on with what is left of their lives. Shelter Box has a standing request for thousands of Shelter Boxes throughout the region.
Orphans and widowed mothers currently occupy hundreds of Shelter Boxes supplied over the past years, but tragically many more are needed. Currently (Summer, 2005), multiple shipments, totaling 1000 Shelter Boxes, are being prepared for deployment into Northern Uganda. (stay tuned to this space for updates and further details).
Shelter Box is committed to providing humanitarian aid on an on-going basis to peoples around the world. Shelter Box asks all Rotary clubs to make an annual commitment to sponsoring one Shelter Box per year, to ensure that those with the greatest need will find aid and relief in the form of a big green box.
-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
From: PDG6960@embarqmail.com
To: eeagen@comcast.net
Subject: ROTARY - 2008-09-GdG-Club Presidents and ALL AG's
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:09:11 +0000
The outer bands of Ike caused additional flooding in Haiti, which was already devastated by Hanna and also hit hard by Fay and Gustav. The last bridge still standing into the city of Gonaives was washed away, slowing relief in the community considerably and creating a deeper humanitarian and food crisis in the hard-hit region. 58 deaths have been reported in Haiti from Ike, of which at least 48 were in the coastal community of Cabaret which was swept away by floodwaters and mudslides.
Many need our help and support at this time. DG Margie has been asked by other DG's to provide as mucvh help as possible. To that effort, she is asking all clubs in 6960 to support the call by sending any donations directly to our District Treasurer, Dwight Sedwick who will forward all gifts from District 6960.
Dwight's address is:
4141 Orange Grove Blvd.
North Fort Mye4rs, FL 334903
Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Cayes, Haiti, distribute food packets near Cayes. Bottom, Haitians wade through a flooded street after Hurricane Hanna dumped even more rainfall on areas already suffering from extreme flooding. Photos courtesy Rotary District 7020
Four hurricanes within a span of a month have caused massive flooding in Haiti, sending local Rotarians scrambling to provide help for thousands displaced by the storms.
Past RI Director Barry Rassin, of Nassau, Bahamas, says the onslaught of hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike has left many parts of the island inaccessible, including the port city of Gonaives. The United Nations has estimated that as many as 600,000 people are in need of help because of the storms, which have killed more than 200 people.
"It's just been so devastating," Rassin says. "We have to wait for the flooding to go down to even be able to access some of the places."
"The last straw was Hanna," Rassin continued. "Parts of Hanna sat over Haiti for days and the ground had already been saturated. Ike made it worse, but Hanna devastated the place."
Dick McCombe, 2007-08 governor of RI District 7020, and Rassin have been coordinating much of the Rotarian relief effort through the Haiti Task Force, set up a year ago to administer all Rotarian financial aid to Haiti. The task force is composed of past and present assistant governors and Haitian Rotary officials.
The district is working with Red Cross, local NGOs, and local Rotary clubs to identify the most urgent needs, says Jack Martin, another past district governor. Because of the difficulty in shipping items to Haiti, the first step has been to provide funds to purchase supplies for the most needy.
How to help
Martin and McCombe are asking Rotarians to help out by sending donations. Information on how to do so is available at the RI Zones 33 and 34 Web site.
Members of the Rotary Club of Cayes helped distribute food packets to long lines earlier this month. Rassin said the district's relief efforts have raised US$25,000, not nearly enough to meet all the need.
"We are wire-transferring cash to Rotary contacts in the country, splitting it between regions," he says. "We did get a few containers of food in--and they were gone in a flash. The need is so great."
"You can see a sense of hopelessness and despair like nothing you've ever seen," writes Caleb Lucien, District 7020's health and hunger resource coordinator, on a Zones 33 and 34 online forum. "After a week of flooding, the only two streets in (Gonaives) that people can freely go from one end to the next is over 3 1/2 feet deep and people are walking almost a mile to go find shelter and something (food) on which to survive."
Rassin says district officials are hoping to charter a small plane to get a better look at the devastation.
"This has impacted the entire country," he says. "There is no place that isn't affected."
For more information
View a Miami Herald slideshow of the devastation. (graphic content)
Watch a BBC video of the havoc caused by the hurricanes.
2 Comments:
At 10:06AM on 15 September 2008, jenipher toussaint wrote: i cant believe that happen to my country all my family are back there, we need to do something to help them.
At 10:17AM on 15 September 2008, augustine taniowho wrote: rotary will always be there at the time of need. i always imagine how paul harris will be feeling in his grave or wherever, if he can see what the seed he planted has become.
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