Rotary Club Donates to ShelterBox
by Bob Augustin Jr.
Kim Kim, member of Rotary International ShelterBox Response Team, was the special guest speaker at the April 2, 2010 meeting of the Lawrenceburg Rotary Club. Kim gave a very moving account, accompanied by numerous photographs, of his deployments to the Phillipines in August 2009 in the wake of multiple typhoons and to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in January 2010 in the aftermath of the devasting earthquake.
As a member of the ShelterBox Response Team, Kim must be ready at a moments notice to deploy to anywhere in the world when disaster, whether natural or man-made, strikes and deliver boxes of aid to those in most need. Each ShelterBox supplies an extended family of up to ten people with a tent and essential equipment they will need while displaced or homeless.
Kim's eye witness report gave a human face to the two disasters. Each disaster presented its own unique problems. In the Phillipines, the Response Team distributed over 500 ShelterBoxes, but could locate little land dry enough to pitch the tents. In Port-au-Prince, the devastation to Haiti's infrastructure was so total, it hindered the Response Teams from getting to the city and surrounding areas. To date, over 7,000 ShelterBoxes have been distributed in Haiti and more are needed.
The Lawrenceburg Rotary Club purchased two ShelterBoxes in February to be sent to Haiti and purchased another ShelterBox in Kim Kim's name in recognition of his living the Rotary Motto of "Service Above Self."
The cost of a ShelterBox is approximately $1,000.00. If you would like more information on the ShelterBox program or would like to donate to the program, go to its web site at http://www.shelterbox.org .
Photo: L to R: Past District Governor James Johnston, Kim Kim, and Rotary Club President Jack Grinnell.
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