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Community Corner

Canton Rotary Club Promotes Emergency Shelter Effort

The Canton Rotarians support victims of natural disasters with ShelterBox.

Visitors to the on Sunday were intrigued by the Canton Rotary Club's ShelterBox display.

Sharon Baker and her fiance, Keith Rasztowski, with their dog, Reo, stopped to hear the Rotarians explain ShelterBox, an international disaster relief organization based in England that is dedicated to helping to those left homeless after natural disasters and other crises — one box at a time. A ShelterBox kit includes a temporary emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies.

Bill Tesen, past president of Canton Rotary, and Derek Locke of the Dearborn Heights Rotary Club were manning the display Sunday at the Farmers Market at Preservation Park, 500 North Ridge Rd., hoping to raise the public's awareness of ShelterBox and encourage donations.

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Rotary Clubs are, according to Tesen, “the oldest, largest service organization in the world” and a natural fit for supporting this type of project.

Locke, a ShelterBox USA volunteer in addition to being a Rotarian, explained that the easily transportable box contains a kit of essential items, including a tent custom-made to withstand many different kinds of extreme weather conditions. It can accommodate up to 10 people and is designed to last up to six months, he said.

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Locke said many people in Haiti received ShelterBox kits after the January 2010 earthquake that left nearly 900,000 homeless.

The kits include other survival tools, including a stove and cooking utensils, plates and silverware that all fit together in one durable, waterproof box; and Lifestraw, a portable water filter developed by a Swedish company, which especially intrigued Jeremy Ledesma of Plymouth. He appeared amazed as Locke demonstrated how the device can filter any kind of water into safe drinking water by filtering out parasites, waste and bacteria.

"I've never seen anything like it before," Ledesma said.

Rich Picana of Canton stopped to get a closer look at the tent, which he said he could tell "was no ordinary camping tent." He was surprised that it could actually fold down to fit in the box. The tent is specially made for ShelterBox USA.

A complete kit costs $1,000. The Canton Rotary Club recently collected enough money to cover one box and will soon be able to track the recipient online, as each box is given a serial number to make that possible.

ShelterBox volunteers were in Arkansas recently, providing kits to 48 families left homeless by a devastating tornado in May. Locke said  the request for aid came from another Rotary Club member.

Donations for the ShelterBox are not directly collected by Rotary Clubs but can be made online at shelterbox.org or by mail to ShelterBox, 8374 Market St., No. 203, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202.

The Canton Rotary Club meets over lunch every Monday. Today's meeting is at noon at , 1900 N. Haggerty Rd. To learn more about Canton Rotary, visit the club's website.

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