Boxing up Relief

Posted by Katy Petershack in Interviews, Organizations Edit


Balochistan Earthquake 2008 | photos courtesy of ShelterBox/Mark Pearson

When disasters strike, thousands of people may be left without shelter. In 2001 Tom Henderson, a former Royal Navy search-and-rescue diver, founded the organization ShelterBox to combat this problem. He created a compact kit that holds enough supplies to help families stay alive and healthy. ShelterBox has several branches in different countries including one in the USA. I spoke with Casey Chadwick, the Public Relations and Marketing Director for the USA branch.

Ms. Chadwick told me, “As soon as I started learning more about [ShelterBox] I became very interested. … [This is] a sound program for humanitarian aid relief.” The boxes typically contain a ten-person tent, thermal blankets and insulated ground sheets, waterproof ponchos and bin bags, a multi-fuel stove, cooking supplies, collapsible water containers, water purification tablets, a basic tool kit and a small children’s pack with drawing books. This kit can help a family of 10 survive for six months.

Birthday presents for kids in need

Six-year-old Mike, living in a shelter, thought only other people had birthdays. He had never celebrated one because his family could never afford it. Cheerful Givers was founded to make sure parents like Mike’s always have a gift to mark their child’s birthday.

While visiting a food shelf in 1994, Robin Maynard-Steele met distraught parents trying to find something special, like a box of cereal or a can of fruit, to give their children. Recognizing an unmet need, she founded Cheerful Givers to give parents living in poverty a helping hand. Since then, with one full-time staff member and volunteers nationwide, the organization has filled birthday bags for thousands of children. It will fill its 300,000th birthday gift bag on May 18.

A Dream Loved Back To Life

There he sat feeding the pigeons again. No matter how many times we told him, Jerry spent every day crumbling bread for the birds in the parking lot. He was doing what he had done for years on end. He had been living homeless in downtown Atlanta, Georgia for a long time.

I thought of Jerry as typical of the homeless men that I work with at SafeHouse Outreach. Jerry wore layers of clothing with a sock hat and hoodie. He carried his belongings in a large rolling bag that had lost its wheels. Jerry had attached the bag to a razor scooter and used that to roll his bag around town.

On this particular day, when I went to go ask Jerry to stop feeding the birds, I asked him a question. I said, “Jerry, what is your dream?” Jerry stopped feeding the birds and looked at me, a bit taken aback. Then he answered, “I want to drive trucks. I am a truck driver.”

Jerry shared with me how he had driven trucks in the army for years. Once his military time was complete, Jerry moved back to Atlanta and made local deliveries by truck. Problems began for him when business slowed down because much of their work was seasonal. He looked for other driving jobs, but they all required a commercial driver’s license and training he didn’t have. I asked Jerry if he knew how to get those things and how much it would cost to do so. Jerry said that he would look into it and get back to me.

Homeless in Argentina

This post was submitted by photographer Toby Binder


Roque lives with his family under a bridge in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. They have been homeless for five years now.




Habitat for Humanity Argentina. Volunteers work with local leaders and families to build homes for people in need of housing.