The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Kelly Carrington Staff Writer The Rotary Club of Flin Flon has been helping to relieve disastrous situations since 1999. The Club donates two Shelter Boxes a year, which are given to families in need after devastating disasters like hurricanes and floods. Each year, Shelter Boxes help roughly 50,000 families a year. Tim Spencer, a proud Flin Flon Rotarian, says he hopes to generate the interest of Shelter Box to the students in the local schools. The local Rotary Club has access to a Shelter Box, from The Pas, to use as a learning tool. 'We really want to get the community involved particularly the schools,' said Spencer. With a set up model on hand, Spencer believes it is a great learning tool for the students. 'We think that it's an interesting thing for students,' he said. 'They can camp out in it and it would be really engaging for kids.' Shelter Boxes were created to help families in the hard times of a natural disaster. Since the inception of Shelter Boxes in 1999, more than 140 disaster areas have received help in over 70 countries. The boxes were developed by UK Rotarian and former Royal Navy search and rescue diver Tom Henderson. As a former diver, Henderson knew the most important thing for the families was to have dry, safe shelter and safe drinking water. Each of the Shelter Boxes created comes with a family tent, water containers, water purification filters, mosquito nets, children's activities, warm hats and gloves, tool kit, a stove, cooking equipment, waterproof ground mats, thermal fleece blankets, and a durable plastic box. The kits are $1,000. The Flin Flon Rotary Club supports Shelter Box buy purchasing two a year. Spencer says the cost is something he thinks the schools would be able to raise. 'The (students) could easily raise the money over the school year,' he said. For those who help with Shelter Boxes, Spencer says they are able to go online and see where their money is going and who is getting help from their purchase. Spencer hopes to start the conversation with the Flin Flon School Division in the Fall about raising money for Shelter Box. Eye Opening While at a Rotary conference in June, Spencer was able to meet someone who benefited from the Shelter Box. A university student from Haiti, on a Rotary scholarship, was the guest speaker at the conference. The conference had a Shelter Box set up on display. Spencer said the young man said it brought tears to his eyes to see the Shelter Box standing tall. After the earthquake in Haiti, the guest speaker and his family lived in a Shelter Box for a year while his house was being rebuilt. The young man, who attends university in Winnipeg, told the room that the Shelter Box was still standing in their backyard as a reminder. 'It's interesting for us to meet someone who has experienced that,' said Spencer. The idea for the Shelter Boxes are to have them delivered to the disaster sites within 24 to 36 hours.
