Dear Ambassadors,
I suspect that like us here at the ShelterBox USA HQ, your heart was heavy as you awoke late last week to see that a tornado outbreak affected lives across our country’s Midwest and parts of the south. A chain of storms that continued into the weekend. As an Ambassador, we thought you may like to know what action we take when disasters impact our home country. As was the case last week and through this weekend, we reach out to the most affected state and local emergency operations centers/managers to introduce the ShelterBox solution and offer help if needed; contact Rotary District Governors and ask them for feedback from the affected communities; and utilize other contacts we have to identify potential need.
We focused on impacted communities in Indiana and Kentucky. At this point, the feedback we are receiving is that shelter needs are being met by local community organizations and governments. We are lucky to live in a country that has sound infrastructure, a philanthropic nature and prepared volunteers. However, we’ll continue to monitor the situation as needs may change and overlooked communities may avail themselves. Should you have any questions about the process we follow, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 941.907.6036 or esperling@shelterboxusa.org.
These storms are a good reminder that disasters can occur anywhere and we need to be ready to respond. That is one of the many reasons your work as an Ambassador is so critical to our mission. Keep up the great work raising funds and awareness. We know we are better positioned to respond to the next, inevitable disasters because of you.
