Rotary Club of Simcoe honours Perks’ legacy
- Chris Abbott
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Chris Abbott
Editor
A $45,000 legacy from Robert (Bob) Perks and his sister Joyce has been donated by the Rotary Club of Simcoe to ShelterBox Canada.
Bob, who passed away in 2024, joined The Rotary Club of Simcoe in 1990 and he was an active member for over 35 years. In 2023, he became an Honorary member. He was a Paul Harris Fellow in 2009, 2014, 2018 and 2020.
The $45,000 was bequeathed to the Rotary Club of Simcoe, with Bob’s wish to donate it to an international charity.
“That’s important for all of us to contribute not only to international causes, but to local causes,” said Dave Ferris, president of the Rotary Club of Simcoe. “We have committees covering both.
“Bob stipulated in his bequest that it go international.”
Stephanie Christensen of ShelterBox Canada, who accepted the donation, made a presentation to the Rotary Club of Simcoe on Jan. 12.
“We are really, really excited at ShelterBox to be working with all of you to honour Bob and Joyce’s legacy,” said Christensen.
“We have launched a memorial matching campaign. We have a ShelterBox Hero Program that recognizes Rotary clubs that donate to ShelterBox to make a difference around the world through our partnership. So clubs that donate $1,200 or more in a Rotary year are Bronze Heroes; $3,600 or more are Silver Heroes; and $6,000 or more Gold Heroes.
“We’re using this matching campaign to get more clubs across the country to donate and get involved. We’re hoping that this will attract new donors, create national visibility of this amazing match and what the Rotary Club of Simcoe is doing as well.
“We are really grateful to all of you for choosing ShelterBox for this legacy and I think we can make a really incredible difference to honour them.”
***
In her presentation at the Simcoe Legion, Christensen said an estimated 123 million people are currently displaced around the world.
“This is why ShelterBox exists. More and more people are being displaced. By 2050, we expect that number to be over 250 million.
“ShelterBox is one of the only humanitarian organizations that solely focuses on emergency shelter. And shelter is really important. Not only is it a human right, it is necessary for survival, but it is also really the foundation for life. When you have a safe shelter, you can start to rebuild your communities, you can rebuild your livelihoods. You can come together as a community, it’s really the starting point for recovery. Having shelter does so much.”
ShelterBox has been recognized by the United Nations as one of the leaders in emergency shelter provision after crisis.
“So we do one thing and we do it really, really well. We’re always ready for whatever happens next.”
ShelterBox originally started as a Rotary Club project in 2000.
“Since then we have grown into a professional humanitarian organization, separate from but still closely partnered with Rotary International since 2012. Not only do Rotary clubs around the world, across Canada, help support ShelterBox’s work, to make it possible for us to be on the ground, but we also work really closely with Rotarians… on the ground in many of our responses.”
Rotarians have been known to find access to warehouses, translators, and connecting with the communities.
“There’s been a lot of situations, too, where it’s because of our connection to Rotary that we’ve actually been able to get in to a country,” she said, noting Ecuador was one of those situations.
“So it’s a really, really wonderful partnership that accomplishes so much around the world.”
Some ShelterBox emergency shelters, if there are no building materials available, include five different types of custom-made tents.
“These tents are really robust. They can withstand 120 k/hr winds, monsoon rains, they are completely fire-retardant, and they are really weather-proof.”
Shelter kits include tarps, tools, and building materials that allow people to repair damaged shelters, and stay in their homes, or build locally appropriate shelters from scratch.
“When there are some building materials available, this is often a better option than tents because it allows people to recover to semi-permanent or permanent homes faster. They are really versatile – we can adapt it to the climate.”
Essential supplies include water purification, solar lights, cooking equipment, blankets and tools.
“All the basics that people need to make their shelter a home.”
ShelterBox also uses ‘cash assistance’ in their humanitarian aid, including vouchers at building hardware stores.
“Giving a small cash grant, along with various aid items, gives people agency to recover the way they want.
“We also, as much as possible, try to get aid locally. So if there is aid locally available – of a high enough quality – we will buy it in country. This does a few things… it supports the local economy, which helps the community recover. It’s cheaper, which means our aid can go further. And it is also more environmentally friendly because we’re not having to ship goods around the world or far distances. So it’s a bit of a combination between local procurement when we can, and then bringing things in internationally.”
Current ShelterBox responses include the Philippines, Myanmar, Jamaica, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and more.
“Hurricane Melissa was the largest (recorded) hurricane to ever make landfall… it was absolutely devastating in size and strength,” said Christensen, noting its impact in Jamaica.
“We had a team on the ground two days after the storm. We’ve been working really closely with a number of local Rotary clubs and the local district there to reach a number of communities on the island. We had aid for 5,000 people stored in Barbados, so that was being distributed within a week. And we had aid for another 5,000 stored in Panama… so it all happened quite quickly, we were able to provide people with those shelter kits, solar lights, mosquito nets, cooking equipment…”
To learn more about ShelterBox Canada, visit shelterboxcanada.org online.
Comments