A cheque for £1,000 has been presented to the charity Shelterbox by Budleigh Salterton Lions Club, to help the relief work in the Philippines following a devastating typhoon in December.
Around seven million people have been affected by Super Typhoon Rai, which caused devastation in areas with high levels of poverty.
The Category 5 storm – the most powerful on the scale – made landfall nine times across seven provinces in the Philippines. As a result, 539,000 people were displaced, 400 were killed and around 800,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.
Shelterbox has been providing emergency accommodation and repair materials since the typhoon struck, and is continuing its work there. Together with Habitat for Humanity, its workers are distributing shelter kits, including tarpaulins, tools and fixings, thermal blankets, solar lights, kitchen sets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and water carriers.
Budleigh Salterton Lions Club president Richard Allen visited the charity’s headquarters in Truro on Wednesday, March 16 to present the club’s latest donation.
He said, "I was delighted to accept an invitation to visit Shelterbox HQ. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet some of the staff and to see the Shelter Boxes, Shelter Kits and other emergency relief equipment that are provided to people who are in crisis all over the world. It was very informative and very moving to speak to Henry Thompson, Programme Manager, who has just returned from the Philippines."
Henry Thompson said: “I want to extend a massive thank you to the Lions Club Budleigh Salterton. Without support like yours, we wouldn’t have been able to meet the needs of families who have lost everything to Super Typhoon Rai. ShelterBox has reached nearly 20,000 families in the Cebu and Bohol provinces since it struck in December. That’s about 100,000 people who now have a safe, warm and dry place to sleep at night and can start their road to recovery.”
Budleigh Lions Club has made several donations to Shelterbox in recent years. Last year the club donated £560 to support its work distributing emergency shelter to families in Haiti who lost their homes in an earthquake.
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