Last August, a pair of British cyclists wheeled into town on a tandem bike to promote the Shelter Box program. We were the 400 mile mark on a tour that was to take Huw and Carolyn Thomas 10,000 miles around the world.
Shelter Box is an international humanitarian organization that stock piles green boxes about the size of a child’s school desk. Inside each box there are supplies for a family of ten to live following a disaster. The box is packed tight with items like a 10 person tent, blankets, school supplies, water purification and cooking utensils. The boxes are stored at strategic sites in the various continents so that they will be ready to deploy at a moment’s notice when a disaster strikes.
Since Huw and Carolyn left us, they have travelled through Western Canada and across the US. They flew home to England for Christmas and then flew to New Zealand for the next leg. They were there when Shelter Box was called upon to aid victims of the earthquake in Christchurch. Then they cycled through flood ravished Australia, seeing the boxes put to use there as well. Currently ShelterBox is deployed in Japan following the earthquake and in Colombia following floods.
Now Huw and Carolyn are in Europe and have passed the 8000 mile mark as they entered Holland this week. Their efforts to raise awareness of the ShelterBox organization has resulted in many individuals and organizations around the world sponsoring a $1000 box. Three of those boxes come from Salmon Arm, so if you are looking at photos of some disaster and see a logo for Rotary Clubs of Salmon Arm on a tent, you’ll know where our contributions ended up.
Visit Huw and Carolyn’s blog about their adventure at http://tandem10.wordpress.com
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Norway Peace Invocation July 29, 2011
Tags: invocation, Norway, peace, Rotary, shootings
In the peaceful country of Norway, known for its celebration of progress and innovative thinking, the unthinkable has happened. Promising futures are destroyed by narcissistic, self-deluding ideology
While there is war within a broken heart, peace can not reign within. Let us be mindful of our duty to promote peace within ourselves, for the individual must be at peace before a family can be at peace. A family must be at peace before a land can be at peace. Land must be at peace before a nation can be at peace. Nations must be at peace before the world can be at peace.
Let us take responsibility to mend wounded hearts and share peace with those around us.
Let us be thankful today for the health and safety of those we love, and thankful that the world grieves collectively this injustice. We are still a culture of peace, even amid destruction.
“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”
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