Rotary’s Partner, ShelterBox, Response to Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding in Eastern Europe

Rotary’s International’s partner, ShelterBox is responding to the Ukraine crisis by sending a team to eastern Europe and working to understand the type of emergency shelter people fleeing Ukraine need. They are also coordinating with local authorities, Rotary, and other aid organizations to make sure as many people as possible will receive the help they need.

According to ShelterBox officials, hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine. Innocent civilians are being killed, families and lives are being torn apart. The United Nations is reporting hundreds of thousands of people on the move inside the country or trying to leave. They are predicting as many 12 million people may need humanitarian assistance, with 6.7 million people projected to be internally displaced within Ukraine and that up to 4 million refugees may be seen as a result of this crisis and more than 660,000 people are reported to have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries.

According to their Chief Executive, Sanj Srikanthan, “We are witnessing a vast humanitarian crisis unfold. With every hour that passes more and more people are fleeing Ukraine, desperately seeking safety and refuge. Hundreds of thousands of people have already crossed Ukraine’s borders and that number is rising quickly as the situation continues to deteriorate. The indications are that this will not be a short conflict.”

In 2000, the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in Cornwall, England adopted ShelterBox as its millennium project. Twenty years later it grew to become the largest Club project in the world, responding to disasters and conflict across the globe and providing emergency shelter to over one million people. In 2002, the United States affiliate was adopted as a project of the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota, FL. In 2004, ShelterBox USA was officially established as a nonprofit organization. The organization’s staff and volunteers have helped to shelter more than 1.5 million people in more than 100 countries around the world.

ShelterBox has experience of working in Ukraine — carrying out emergency responses to floods in 2003 and 2008, and assessments in 2014 following the outbreak of the ongoing conflict in the Donbas region.

Typical ShelterBox aid items include tents as temporary shelter or shelter kits to allow people to build or rebuild durable shelters. ShelterBox also provides other aid items such as water filters, water carriers, solar lights, cooking sets, blankets and mats. A sturdy green box packed with the necessary aid items is often provided to families in places where they respond.

For more information on the crisis and how to help or donate, visit The Ukrainian Crisis Explained.