Rotary Happenings: Donation made to ShelterBox USA

Club business was on the agenda this week with focus on Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Trust Fund’s on-going support of ShelterBox USA and Rotary International and Rotary District #6960 partnership projects.
At the top of the meeting, Club President Charlie Emerson presented a $2,000 check to Ross Spencer of ShelterBox USA. The $2,000 is being earmarked for emergency supplies in response to a special appeal for relief supplies for Syrian refugees. Paraphrasing an article from Global Impact, The Syrian catastrophe is at epic proportions with numbers of people fleeing Syria. Millions are living in makeshift dwellings in neighboring countries where they are offered sanctuary and some refugees still trapped within the Syria borders. ShelterBox has been involved with relief efforts in Syria for the last six years at an estimated cost of $5 million toward this humanitarian relief effort. Currently the only shelter tents allowed in Syria refugee areas are supplied by the UN. Additional emergency supplies such as tarps, plastic sheeting, water purification equipment, tools, and other survival supplies are distributed by ShelterBox through partnerships with Hand & Hand Syria and Relief Aid Syria.
Following the check presentation, Chet Sadler, Sanibel-Captiva Rotary International Foundation club representative, presented an impressive report and video on his recent sustainability follow-up inspection of our club’s water projects and a report on joining Rev. Israel Suarez of Nations Association and others on a trip to Ecuador for delivery and distribution of donated medical supplies in Ecuador.
St. Marc, Haiti a $75,000 construction project of bathroom facilities at the St. Marc School-providing safe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Construction of bathrooms completed in 2015. Chet revisited the facilities and commented that facilities were being well-maintained and slight modifications of the building were put in place because of some vandalism problems. Overseer of project in Haiti, St. Marc Rotary Club, Haiti.
Villard Village, Arbonite Valley, Haiti-sustainable clean water filtering system built in partnership with Rotary District #7020-England in Arbonite Valley, Haiti. Working with the Water Mission organization these solar powered water systems have a capacity of suppling safe clean water to approximately 6,000 community members, currently it is serving 2,500 community members. Each water system is overseen by a local water committee that sets a nominal charge for this clean water at the Villard system site the cost is 3 cents for 10 gallons of chlorinated water. Fees are used to sustain the filtering system and pays a local community member to manage the site. Water pipes can be added for short-range distribution of water to nearby villages and plans to do so are on the drawing board. Chet told us this water project is working well; additional water system sites are being explored.
Medical supplies to Ecuador: The name of this project could be called, “How the Wheels Turn.” An original gift of 10 wheelchairs presented at last year’s Rotary District #6960 District Conference to Rev. Israel Suarez of Nations Association Charities, Fort Myers from Sanibel-Captiva Rotary and the District’s Wheelchair Foundation project was a start of something so much bigger.
Soon after the announcement of the gift, Rev. Suarez was made aware of the need for medical supplies for victims of a series of earthquakes in Ecuador. He then asked Rotary if he could send the wheelchairs to Ecuador and Rotary agreed. However, that was not the end of the story, but just the beginning. When District Rotarians heard about the need in Ecuador, District Rotarians searched donations from other sources for medical supplies.
Lee Memorial Health System had just purchased some new electric hospital beds and other medical hard-goods for their facilities and decided that the old equipment could be donated for use in Ecuador. The Wheelchair Foundation donated 35 wheelchairs. Rotary donated 180,000 food packages. Snyderman Shoes in Fort Myers donated hundreds of boxes of shoes for distribution in Ecuador, a much-needed commodity in storm ravaged countries. Nations Association Charities helped with additional supplies.
Rotary District #6960 Rotary Club’s financed the purchase of two Red Cross shipping containers and paid transportation and shipping fees to bring these supplies down to Ecuador. Nations Charities, friends of this organization, and Rotarians helped pack the supplies into the containers and off it will go. Not so fast. A hurricane was threatening the shipping port. Wait and hold the two containers here in the states; finally, shipping was underway. A few bribes here, a few bribes there to get the containers to the point of distribution. Rotarian Chet Sadler made the journey to Ecuador to be part of the distribution team on the ground including the Rotary Club de Manta, Ecuador.
Sanibel-Captiva Rotarian, Chet Sadler is our club’s point-man on projects like this. Chet pays for all his transport and spends months coordinating these projects. Thanks, Chet.
Sanibel-Captiva Rotary meets Friday mornings at 7 a.m., at the Dunes Golf & Tennis Club. Guests are always welcomed.