Texting your donation: Send the message SUPPORT SHELTER to 20222 and you will donate $5; send the word SHELTERBOX to 56512 to send more money (you will get a phone call back asking for amount and credit card info).
Between the diary efforts of TexMex/Septima/SallyCat/Amber6541 and the generosity Daily Kos readers, we've been able to provide enough Shelter Boxes to accomodate 800 people. Shelter Box USA has noticed - Tex Mex spoke to their communications officer about the effort and received emails thanking us.
So what is a Shelter Box, and how can you help? Well, second question first:
Here is the Secure donation page https://app.etapestry.com/...
United States Shelterbox page http://www.shelterboxusa.org/
Canada Shelterbox http://www.shelterbox.ca/
Shelter Box home page http://shelterbox.org/
And here's a Shelter Box:
Morning, Kossacks. I'll be trying to keep track of donations and will update the diary throughout the day with running totals. When TexMex gave me the update this morning, we were at 79 boxes and $845 toward box #80. I'll give it a little kick-start: I got an unexpected check yesterday so I'll donate $55 to get us to a nice, even $900 toward that next box.
UPDATE: We hit 83! (with big thanks to the friends of IowaBob, who donated $1000 for a whole box!!)
==>Update: Another whole box donated by Ashman! Thank you!
We've raised 930 $1000 for box #83! Pam in Calif donated the last $70 to finish the 83rd box, but couldn't post here for some reason. Now we can get started on #84....
When you make your contributions, please note the amount in your subject line or somewhere in your comment. You can also email me at the address in my profile if you don't want to report it here. But I don't care what Miss Manners says: it's tasteful to talk about your donations - it helps inspire others to give.
Shelter Box USA has noticed - Tex Mex spoke to their communications officer about the effort and received emails thanking us, including one from the President of the board of Shelter Box USA. Go Daily Kos!!!
It's not just for housing either - I read a story in one of the diaries yesterday that said ten Shelter Boxes are being used as a temporary hospital facility at the airport. The whole system is flexible enough to be used for a number of different purposes, and adaptability is critical when there are so many unknowns in a disaster like this.
Oh, and one other thing I'd like to point out - if you read the contents of the box, you'll see there are water purification tablets. Safe drinking water is a huge issue right now, and the box contains enough tablets to purify water for ten people for six months. Take a moment to look at what is provided; you'll be amazed at how much help and hope can be contained in one plastic box.
(thanks for the code, Eileen B! Also, Pam from Calif added a youtube video of ShelterBox deliveries in her comment.)
And now, a bit of content from earlier shelter box diaries to help fill you in on the story:
Whooooo hoooo Watch this!
This one too, watch it!
Here is the letter from Shelter Box USA!!!!
Boxes arrive in Haiti, some will be used for a hospital at the airport. http://www.youtube.com/... first ShelterBoxes have arrived in Port au Prince and hundreds more are due to arrive later today. The ShelterBox Response Team of David Eby (US), Wayne Robinson (US) and Mark Pearson (UK), who have been in Haiti’s capital since Thursday, took delivery of the first ShelterBoxes at Port au Prince airport yesterday. The team say twelve of these boxes will be used to build an emergency field hospital at the airport. ‘We are helping build a field hospital with these tents at the airport,’ said Mark Pearson. ‘These are desperate conditions, amputations are happening every half hour. There’s an urgent need for tents at hospitals and this is our first priority.’ ShelterBox Head of Operations John Leach said: ‘The safety of our staff in Haiti is of paramount importance. ‘We are working with the agencies on the ground to ensure that ShelterBoxes are not only distributed speedily and efficiently, but that our team on the ground is able to work in a safe environment.’ Hundreds more boxes are due to arrive into Port au Prince later today from Miami on a chartered aircraft. Thousands more ShelterBoxes are being packed and shipped from ShelterBox HQ in the UK. ShelterBox Founder and CEO Tom Henderson said: ‘The devastation in Haiti has moved everyone here. We now have our boxes on the ground and it’s a privilege to help. The scale of devastation is huge. ‘By the sheer grit and determination of our staff and volunteers we have been able to respond in record time. Our thanks go to the teams of volunteers, as well as to our donors, who have allowed us to do this. ‘ShelterBox relies entirely on public donations and people’s generosity. We receive no institutional funding and no DEC money. I’d urge, if you can, to help us.’ -- Ed Providing Dignity to Disaster Survivors Ed Koplos National Representative President of the Board of Directors ShelterBox USA
Lastest Update: This picture shows Elda Exeuatug, mother of 20-day-old baby Samanya, who has not received any help or relief and her baby is starting to get rashes. She said: 'I have no idea how to cope with this. We have nothing no food, water, shelter we are desperate'. Photogrpah: Mark Pearson ShelterBox has established three separate operational centers in and around Haiti to help distribute assistance to the estimated one million people left homeless by the devastating 12 January earthquake. The three-person ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) in Haiti has set up an operations base in the capital Port au Prince with the assistance of local Rotarians to co-ordinate the delivery of aid in the country. They are working with the French aid agency ACTED to determine the areas in most need of assistance and are training personnel to put up tents ahead of their arrival into the devastated country. Speaking from Haiti, Mark Pearson said: 'Tens of thousands are displaced living in the capital with no proper shelter, water or food and hospitals are completely over run.' The Haiti operation is being supported by logistical hubs set up in Miami and the Dominican Republic capital Santa Domingo. ShelterBoxes have been flown to both cities for onward transportation to Haiti. Overall logistical co-ordination is being managed from ShelterBox HQ in Helston. ShelterBox Head of Operations John Leach said: ‘This is the largest, quickest and most complex deployment in our history. We are now very well organised across four countries to get ShelterBoxes to the people of Haiti quickly. ‘We are now set up to channel aid to those in need efficiently and effectively in the days and weeks to come. This is a long term commitment from ShelterBox and we have to sustain our initial push.’ Warehouse volunteers continue to pack ShelterBoxes day and night at the ShelterBox HQ in Helston. More than 3,300 ShelterBoxes have been committed so far, enough to help up to 33,000 people. Given the enormity of the disaster, more boxes are being packed ready to be sent to the Caribbean country. ShelterBox Founder and CEO Tom Henderson added: ‘The need in Haiti is huge. Current estimates are that there are over a million people who have lost their homes. ‘We continue to rely on the support of volunteers and donors to allow us to help them in the days and weeks to come.’ -- Providing Dignity to Disaster Survivors Ed Koplos National Representative President of the Board of Directors ShelterBox USA