Dave Hall tells us all about Shelter Box
Meeting Notes of the Rotary Club of Clover Park, January 17, 2018
Recorded by Sheri Hodson
Edited by Tom McClellan
Invocation was offered by Alan Billingsley. And Dave Hall led us in the salute to the flag.
Visiting Rotarians: Lakewood President Don Daniels
Visitors: Judi Maier introduced her husband Tom Wie. Alan Billingsley introduced his grandsons Gavin and Nolan Carr, as well as his nephew Jason and his fiancée Allie.
Sunshine report: Bryan shared that Karen Fengler Nichols is under the weather. He is hoping she is able to attend Friday’s Board meeting or he will be looking for someone else to take notes. Our good wishes are with you Karen.
Club Announcements:
Upcoming speakers –
January 24 – Chief Jim Sharp will provide an update about West Pierce Fire and Rescue
January 31 – John Hough will present information about Rotary District grants and scholarships
February 7- Susanne Bacon – Local author
Board Meeting is his Friday, January 19th at Carr’s at 7:30. All are welcome to attend.
Presidents’ Minute - Bryan had planned his President’s minute to be the presenting of a blue badge to Riley Wyatt. Since he was not in attendance General Ed was given much more time to collect fines.
Fun and Fines:
General Ed Trobaugh was assisted by Dave Hall. Ed seemed to be in a fine, happy mood, being given so much extra time.
John Munn paid off his $10 Wachter, for crimes long since forgotten.
Georgene Mellom had to add $2 fine for not signing in to her check that was already prepared for her birthday. Jeannie Hill led us in Happy Birthday – General Ed did not want Dave Hall to lead the group.
There were several other birthdays and anniversaries that will carry over for when the Rotarians are back in attendance.
Fred Willis was happy to share that he and Ingrid celebrated 60 years of marriage. They just returned from 8 days in Hawaii at 11:00 last night. He did bring back Macadamia nuts but they were still in the packed suitcases. He contributed $100 to his Paul Harris Polio Plus.
Sheri Hodson shared her pre-Christmas vacation with her family down in CA. She contributed $30.
Joyce Loveday was pleased to share her enrollment numbers at CPTC were slightly up this year. She said when the economy is doing well so are the enrollment numbers.
Alan Billingsley ratted on his daughter, Ellie Carr ($2), on her weekend beach getaway. Ellie in turn ratted on her father, Alan ($2) for being on the same weekend getaway. General Ed settled on $10 each.
Today’s Program:
Our own Dave Hall as an Ambassador for Shelter Boxes.
Shelter Boxes focuses on Recovery. It began in 1999 with the assistance of a Rotary Club in Cornwall, England.
This past year more than 85 million people were displaced by conflict or disaster. This number is expected to climb to about 200 million by 2050. Shelter Boxes is no longer just standard sized bins and one size fits all. What gets delivered is tailored to the situation. It is no longer just a large box that we can track- tracking is no longer available.
There are several sizes and types of tents, including a cold weather tent and an “UN spec” (United Nations specification) logo instead of Shelter Box for the protection of the recipients.
The traditional box is about the size of our blue Rotary meeting storage container, and weighs about 130 pounds. Some of the main components are the tent, which can withstand winds of up to 70 mph, has partitions, and you can stand up in it.
LuminAid – a solar light source that is about the size of a wallet and weighs 3 ounces, is waterproof, and after 7 hours of solar charging can last 8 hours on high or 16 hours on low. It was a Shark Tank item. Perma Net to keep out mosquitoes.
One of the most important items is the Thirst Aid Station. It is an easy filtering system to take dirty water and make it drinkable. This was developed with the help of Shelter Box.
Another box is the Shelter repair kit – it provides tarps, sheeting, tools, ropes, special nails, shovel and saw. It helps to get existing buildings back into the role of providing shelter.
Transportation of the boxes is very easy either in bulk or individual boxes. They go by planes, ship, trucks, mules, and even bikes. Standardized sizing makes the job of the logisticians easier, since they can plan better.
Shelter box employees/volunteers escort the boxes to those in need, so they get where they are supposed to go, and are not sold off or stockpiled by the government. There are over 200 volunteers worldwide.
Notable deployments – Indonesia Tsunami 2004 – first major deployment of 22,000 boxes in 4 countries. Haiti- Several years later and people are still living in the tents, Hurricane Sandy, Harvey and Katrina. Philippines cyclones are the most recent event. Syria crisis – they use the UN tents provided by shelter box.
Yes – Shelter Box is prepared for a Cascadia Subduction in the event we are the ones in need.
Dave presented both Bryan Christensen and Don Daniels, president of Lakewood Rotary, with “Hero Banners” for the substantial and consistent support of Shelter Box by both clubs. Both were at the Bronze level which is at least $1000 a year.
After the crisis is over, the Shelter Boxes stay with the person that was given it. Sometimes the tents are later used for schools, medical facilities, businesses, etc. The point is that the organization does not want to be seen as coming back around, asking for a pay-back… It is a gift, and the recipients are allowed to accept it forever and do the best they can with it.
Dave ended by asking why the box was green for a free lunch next week with him? After several guesses, David Cotant was close enough…………….. The founders of Shelter Box had gone to a local hardware store and the boxes that were on clearance were the green ones. So they bought those, and that color became the brand.
Raffle Drawing:
The pot was at $535. Jim Hairston pulled the 2 of diamonds.
And Finally…
Your editor has not talked about dogs for a while. Here is a sheepdog who may have lied a bit on his résumé.
And if you have a dog, you might want to know that this particular brand of dog care product may not live up to its own billing.
