Hemyock resident Roger Lambert is the area Shelterbox organiser for the Exe Valley and Upper Culm and following the earthquake in Haiti moved quickly to tell people what Shelterbox was doing for that country.  Roger went along to the Hemyock Market on Saturday morning and on Sunday he attended the Baptist Church where friends from St Mary’s Church were also gathering. 
 
He told them that 930 boxes had already been sent to Haiti and 1000 more were being packed over the weekend.  The people responded generously to Roger’s appeal for funds so that even more of these valuable aid boxes could be sent.  By Sunday evening pledges and gifts totalled £2000, enough to fund 4 boxes.
Each Shelterbox costs £490 and contains, a tent, cooking equipment, a basic tool kit, water purification tablets, sleeping and survival equipment and children's books and pens, and is made to help 10 people.  A ShelterBox Response Team (SRT)has arrived in the island’s capital and has already been in contact with government officials in the country. The Response Team, who are completely self-sufficient, have set up base there with the help of local Rotarians.

ShelterBox’s Head of Operations John Leach said: ‘We spoke with our team in Haiti and already they’ve been working with other aid agencies and the government to assess where ShelterBoxes are most needed.  ‘Our priority is now getting logistics in and doing all we can to get it on the island. We’re sending a ShelterBox Logistics team into Miami to work and coordinate logistics into Haiti from there.’
 
People wanting to give to Shelterbox, whose work is a project of Rotary International, can visit their website at http://shelterbox.org/
 
Picture – Roger Lambert of Shelterbox shows the all fuel cooker to David Jones at Hemyock Baptist Church.