I Gave This Morning

I gave to Oxfam during the Tsunami and I gave to the humane society for Katrina (mostly because I couldn't bring myself to give to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army, and if I couldn't give to the humans, I had to give to the animals).

This morning, I gave to ShelterBox. It wasn't much, but I figure, if I gave $$ and I can inspire 5 more folks to give $$ even just a dollar, and then they inspire 5 others and those 5 inspire 5 each, well, you get the point.

So, What's in the box? From Shelterbox:

• One 49 gallon box (The Shelterbox) initially the container for delivery of the materials listed below. Once delivered, can be used as water tank, food store, cot, table, etc.

• One ten-person tent, including two fabric interior privacy partitions, outer fly-sheet and repair kit. These tents are considered ‘winter suitable’ by international relief standards.

• Vinyl insulated sleeping mats and lightweight thermal blankets. More compact than sleeping bags, these mats and blankets have multiple uses. The blanket can also be fashioned to catch water, as a tarp, etc. while the mat also serves as a ground ‘table’ for meals, or tent rugs.

• One pack of 180 water purification tablets or a water purification kit; and one 5 gallon flat-pack water container (Each tablet will purify a full container of water providing 1,800 gallons of clean drinking water which should be sufficient for a family of ten for up to three months).

• Two 2.1 gallon, collapsible, plastic water carriers.

• One collapsible trenching shovel

• Rope, 164 foot

• Repellant-treated mosquito netting

• Ten PVC Ponchos/ ten HD plastic bags

• Tool kit in canvas bag: hachet, jack-knife, screwdriver, hammer, hoe head etc.

• Multi-fueled cook stove

• Eating utensils: enamel plates/cups

• Children's activity kit-simple school supplies, stickers and coloring book

I'm just a working woman in the US. But I didn't think I could stand by and not try to help, even in a small way, my fellow human beings in Haiti.

Please, take a minute and give. If you can't give, and some can't, forward the information to others, perhaps one of those people can, and then encourage those folks to forward the information to others... If we can't help in Haiti now, perhaps we can make sure that Shelterbox has enough resources to make sure that they can provide the next box to the next family in the next disaster area.