ShelterBox delivers disaster relief to Haiti

Over 3,000 Shelter Boxes have been delivered to Haiti but many Thousands more are needed to house over 2,000,000 homeless victims. Rotary clubs around the globe are working to fulfill the need for temporary housing.

President's Message

Dear Rotarians,

This has been a difficult week to watch the news. We are overwhelmed with sadness as we watch the rescue efforts being made after the devastating and catastrophic earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday. Tens of thousands dead, even more left homeless and scenes of chaos is what we see.

At our meeting on Thursday, there were no fines. I asked the members present to give whatever they felt comfortable giving toward the relief being sent to Haiti. I spoke with the Rotary World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois about where we can send our contribution. It was then that I learned about ShelterBox, a Rotary International affiliated relief organization which has been mobilized to accept Rotary contributions to the Haitian relief effort.

Shelter Box, founded by Rotary in Britain, is delivering more than 700 Shelter Boxes from pre-positioned stock in Curacao and El Salvador. Each box contains:

• A 10 person tent
• Sleeping bags and mats for ten
• A multi-fuel cook stove
• Pots/pans/plates/cups/utensils
• A tool kit
• Shovel & rope
• Mosquito netting
• Rain gear
• A children's activity kit
• A water purification kit
• And more!

A three-person ShelterBox Response Team comprised of highly-experienced members David Eby (US), Wayne Robinson (US) and Mark Pearson (UK) are doing all they can to make it to Haiti as quickly as possible. Alongside this, the dedicated team of volunteers at ShelterBox headquarters in the United Kingdom are giving up their time to help pack the ShelterBoxes ready for transportation to Haiti. You can read about ShelterBox on their website: ShelterBox.com.

On Thursday, we collected $375 to be sent for Haitian relief. Since our meeting, I received several e-mails from District 7930 and other clubs.

• Bob Priestly, the President of the Lynnfield Rotary Club which is sponsoring a Shelter Box which costs $1,000 and they are challenging every club in the district to match them.
• Mark Engleberg, President of the Lawrence Rotary Club reports that at their meeting on Thursday, they raised enough to send one Shelter Box and are mid-way to sending a second one.
• Joshua Garfinkle, President of the Woburn Rotary Club reports that they have already sent one Shelter Box and also funds to a local program, Partners in Health
• The Beverly Rotary Club voted to send two Shelter Boxes plus $1,000 directly to a hospital in the northern part of Haiti.
• The Gloucester Rotary Club reports that they will be sending three Shelter Boxes by this Tuesday (Jan. 19th)
• Jeffrey Wargo, President of the Marblehead Rotary Club reports that "in the spirit of doing the right thing, the membership voted to have four boxes sent!"

While $375 sounds good, as one of the larger clubs in District 7930, we should be raising much more. Even without Lynnfield's challenge, raising $1,000 should come easily, if not double or triple that.

The horrific reports that we hear and the pictures that we see reminds us of the fragility of human life. Helping others in desperate need is a natural human instinct, simply because that's what it means to be human.

Again next week there will be no fines (happy and travel dollars will still be accepted) so that we can raise the necessary money to send one, two or more Shelter Boxes in the name of Haverhill Rotary. I know we can do it; I know we will!

Rotarily Yours,

Ira

P.S. If you are away in Florida or elsewhere or you know you will not be at next Thursday's meeting, you can send a check made out to Haverhill Rotary and send it to: Haverhill Rotary, P.O. Box 808, Haverhill, MA 01831 Write "Haiti Relief" on the memo line.

P.P.S. If you or your place of work can pledge a gift of $250 or more to help send Rotary Shelter Boxes, please e-mail me. I have the mid-year meeting for presidents in District 7930 this Wednesday January 20th and I would love to be able to report that Haverhill Rotarians are just as compassionate and charitable as other Rotarians throughout the district!

Community Meals

Save the date. Our next opportunity to serve Community Meals is Monday February 8th.

Updating Records

Please take a moment to help us update our records. A copy of the MS Word document is available by clicking the following link: MEMBERSHIPDATA.doc. Bring the form to out club meeting or email it to Bonita Michaleas our club secretary.

December District News

Download a copy of our December district newsletter and keep up with what's going on.

Tickets are Available for Comedy Night

A comedy night is being planned for Friday February 12th featuring Juston McKinney. Tickets are $25.00 per person and includes hors d'oeuvres. A limited menu from the Phoenician Restaurant will be also available for purchase. Doors open at 7:30 PM. Show starts at 9:00 PM. If you have any questions contact Steven Goddu.

Tell your friends to save the date. A flyer is available at http://www.godduprinting.com/Nairator/RotaryComedyNight.jpg. Attach the flyer to an email or copy the link into your email for them to view. Also you can visit the web site for our featured comedian Juston McKinney

There was a Rabbi, a bottle of Rum and a bottle of gin... Ryan & Wood distilleries of Gloucester spoke to us about their hand crafted Rum, Gin & Vodka. It was truly a Spirit-ual meeting.