Patrick Olson, Rotarian in Plymouth, knows how his donations for cyclone relief in Burma are used.
He helped deliver them himself.
‘It was an amazing experience,? said Olson, who shared his story with Clarkston Rotary Club at its July 14 meeting.
Clarkston Rotarian Mary Sloan-Lichty, local representative for ShelterBox USA, presented information about the program to Plymouth’s Rotary when Olson expressed an interest.
‘He wanted to know about ShelterBox Response Teams,? Sloan-Lichty said.
‘She connected me with ShelterBox in Florida,? Olson said.
After selection and training, he deployed with American and British SRTs to Burma, also known as Myanmar, for 10 days this past June.
‘It’s a police state, the people are extremely poor. The government was an obstacle,? he said.
‘It took a lot of work, but we had some good connections. Shelter Box has a good reputation for this kind of work, so we ended up getting some nice cooperation.?
They delivered about 1,800 shelter boxes filled with supplies and 55 tons of food to the country, which was devastated by Cyclone Nargis this past May. Filling a DC-10 airliner, the food and supplies were enough to help about 20,000 people, he said.
‘It just seemed a great opportunity to get involved at a very concrete level,? Olson said. ‘I’ve done a fair amount of travel, but nothing like this.?
He’s set for two more weeks of training in England next month.
‘They cover a wide range of skills, writing a press release, documents for customs, proper field practices ? how to stay out of trouble,? he said.
Each green, 40.7-gallon shelter box contains a 10-person tent, sleeping bags, blankets, cooking supplies, water containers, purification tablets and other essentials.
ShelterBox began as a Rotary project in Cornwall, England, in 2000. ShelterBox USA is a non-profit disaster relief program administered by the Rotary Clubs of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., and Helston-Lizard in Cornwall. It is supported by grassroots efforts of individuals, and service and community groups, schools, and corporate and private foundations.
When called by aid organizations, the ShelterBox Trust, a non-profit organization, sends response teams with hundreds or thousands of boxes. Each is designed to shelter 10 people.
Funding is provided by community organizations. Donation for a box is $1,000. Donor organization’s logo goes on its box, and it can track where it goes.
For more information, call 941-747-8500 or check www.shelterboxusa.org. Contact Sloan-Lichty at marymsloan@comcast.net.