Shelterbox
| Founded | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Type | Humanitarian aid charity |
| Focus | Disaster relief |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
| Product | Shelterboxes |
| Slogan | Shelter - Warmth - Dignity |
| Mission | Humanitarian aid |
ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that provides temporary shelter and life saving supplies to displaced families.
Each ShelterBox typically contains a tent designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, water purification kit, blankets, tools, and other necessities to help a family survive after a disaster. The contents of a ShelterBox are tailored to the nature and location of the disaster.
ShelterBox Response Teams distribute boxes on the ground, working closely with local organisations, international aid agencies and Rotary clubs worldwide.
ShelterBox was founded in 2000 in the town of Helston, Cornwall, UK. That same year the Rotary club of Helston-Lizard adopted it as its millennium project.
The first consignment of 143 boxes was sent to earthquake victims of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Over the next three years the project matured and by the end of 2004 nearly 2,600 boxes had been dispatched, following 16 major disasters. The company significantly expanded its work in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
In 2002, ShelterBox's American affiliate was adopted as a project of the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota, Fla. In 2004, ShelterBox USA was officially established as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
One of ShelterBox's largest responses was the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti in 2010. ShelterBox provided shelter for 28,000 families or approximately 25% of all tents delivered in areas surrounding Port au Prince.
In 2010, the Australian and Canadian branches of ShelterBox split from the main organization and formed new organizations called Disaster Aid Australia and Disaster Aid Canada, respectively. However, new teams in Australia and Canada were immediately put in place and the charity's work was unaffected by the breakaway groups.
After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, ShelterBox provided assistance to about 1,600 families in the disaster region.
In August 2012, the Board of Directors of ShelterBox removed founder Tom Henderson as CEO, stating it was a unanimous decision. In February 2013, Alison Wallace was appointed CEO of ShelterBox after her position as director of international fundraising at Amnesty International.
In August 2014 ShelterBox founder and former CEO Tom Henderson was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud. In the subsequent Old Bailey court case it was alleged that he gave supply contracts to his son. He was cleared of conspiracy to commit fraud: not guilty verdicts were accepted and the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not request a retrial following a 44-day trial, which ended with the jury failing to reach a verdict after more than 30 hours of deliberation.
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Wikipedia