Pat Ellard

By: centraljersey.com
I’m at the Nassau Club for a Rotary Club meeting. I’m not a member, but I’m made welcome. Everything at the Nassau Club is nice, neat, and pleasant, quite a contrast to the center of attention, a big, sturdy, green plastic box. That box is far from the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t go with the ambience of the Nassau Club, yet there it is, front and center. It is big, plain, and heavy. The box, called a ShelterBox, has the complete attention of Princeton’s Rotarians. I figure that it must be special to be the subject of a whole meeting.
I look at the box carefully – an adult could sit, but not sleep, in a ShelterBox, so why the name? It must be what’s inside that makes it so special. Why does Rotary spend a thousand dollars for each one?
But if I were hit by a disaster, the contents of a ShelterBox are just what I would want. I’d need shelter – a tent large enough for 10 people should do for my whole family – and I’d need clean water. Yes, it has a tent that can sleep 10, and it has water purification equipment. Thermal blankets, insulated ground sheets, mosquito nets, cooking utensils, tools, a children’s activity pack, and a mult-fuel stove are all in it. A multi-fuel stove? Wood, gas, kerosene, peat, dried grass – if it burns, this stove can handle it. I must admit it is well designed for what it does. "Form follows function." my art teacher used to say, and this is a fine example of that.
Thanks to Rotary’s support for ShelterBox, an international disaster-relief charity that delivers "emergency shelter, warmth and dignity" to people affected by disaster worldwide, ShelterBoxes have been sent to emergencies all over the world. Victims of tsunamis, (think Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and now Japan), hurricanes (think Katrina), and earthquakes (again, Japan) – almost anywhere there is need – ShelterBoxes arrive quickly, courtesy of generous Rotary Clubs and their friends.
Rotary has nearly 31,000 clubs in 166 countries, making it one of the world’s largest service organizations. Because there are so many Rotary Clubs in so many places, Rotary is ideally suited to help local officials when disaster strikes. In many cases, ShelterBoxes are the first outside help to reach disaster victims. Local Rotarians are already there, on site because they live there. And they are ready to respond, true to the Rotary motto, "Service above self."
Collecting money and sending ShelterBoxes to places that need them is only part of what Rotary does. On the global front, they’re partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in furthering Rotary’s longstanding effort to eradicate polio worldwide. They contribute to the effort to provide clean water for the Sudan. Because of their work, Rotary even has representation at the U.N.
Their efforts are local, as well. The Rotary Club of Montgomery-Rocky Hill is the largest single contributor to the Montgomery High School United Scholarship Committee. Some of their efforts result in noise – think about the baseball scoreboard reflecting a win – but others are quiet, like providing food and gifts for local needy families at the holidays. Their attitude, as expressed by Doug Merritt, president of the Montgomery-Rocky Hill Rotary is, "What can we do, how can we do it, and when can we start?" Rotary Clubs, wherever they are, meet every week. "You see more of your fellow members than you do some of your relatives," Doug chuckled. "It helps us to work together," he adds.
One of the big fundraisers for Montgomery-Rocky Hill Rotary is the "Run with Rotary," which this year will take place May 1, starting at the Montgomery Upper Middle School. Participants can enter as teams or as individuals, and there is a 1-mile "Ramble" for those not prepared to do a 5K run.
At the Montgomery-Rocky Hill Rotary meeting, there was no appeal for volunteers to work the run. There’s no need. It’s a big event, Doug Merritt says. "All the members know what’s needed. It’s all hands on deck. Our members will all be there to help." Food and drink are served – water, oranges, apples, bananas, and bagels. Doug says that anything left over is immediately taken to SHIP, the food pantry in Somerville.
"What if you get rain?" I ask. "We don’t have a rain date," Doug says. "Those who like to run will be here."
The Montgomery-Rocky Hill Rotary meets for breakfast. Lisa Youngberg catches my eye as I survey all the food. "There are no calories in a Rotary breakfast," she says. We both laugh.
There are no assurances about calories in the Princeton Rotary Lunch at the Nassau Club. The food is warm; so is the welcome. Lewis Edge, a Princeton Rotarian for 38 years, describes the Rotary emblem as being like a gear. The teeth remind members that they are to engage with one another and with the wider community.
If you have time and the inclination, find out more about Rotary. For the Montgomery-Rocky Hill Club, call Doug Merritt at 732-233-5818. For Princeton, review their website at www.princetonrotary.org Teams, runners, and ramblers can register online for the Run with Rotary at www.RunWithRotary.org.
I’m back to looking at the ShelterBox again. Two men are carrying it from the Nassau Club, and they are finding it heavy and cumbersome. But the lasting image I have is of the woman in the video they had just shown – the woman carrying a ShelterBox on her head. She walks with a spring in her step, like the box is as light as a feather. In spite of the disaster she has just seen, this night her family will be safe and sheltered. It makes her feet happy and her heart light. Being able to provide that safety for others makes Rotarians’ hearts lighter, too. It’s what makes them Rotarians.
To learn more about ShelterBox, visit www.shelterbox.org.