ShelterBox Display At Central Square

The International Committee at the Rotary Club of Wendouree Breakfast has made a commitment to raise money this year for the 'ShelterBox' program of Rotary International - we felt the best way to do that was to raise awareness within our community.

One way to do this was to display a ShelterBox and its contents at Central Square Shopping Centre, Ballarat in late January 2009 and the following day at Trash and Treasure at the Ballarat Show Grounds.

We believe this was the first time that a Shelterbox has been on display in Ballarat with the tent erected and contents on display.

Central Square management assisted the club by donating the space for the display and offering further assistance if required.

We raised a modest amount but people who stopped and donated money were very generous with many asking whether the ShelterBoxes were just for overseas disasters, we let them know that they had been used in China, Burma and even the USA when Katrina struck New Orleans and said that if a disaster struck in Australia the boxes would be deployed here too.

Little did we know that the following weekend the Victorian Bushfire disaster would hit us and within days approximately 60 boxes were sent into the King Lake area. Each ShelterBox costs $1,200 and the club intends to participate in this Rotary program every year to purchase boxes that provide emergency shelter for those who have lost their home in a disaster.

We have plans to display the Shelter Box again in the near future, so please keep a lookout on this web site for details.