13th July 2014

Iraq’s displaced families to receive ShelterBox aid

This week Hastings fire officer and ShelterBox New Zealand response team member Mike Peachey will deploy to Iraq Kurdistan to deliver humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees as part of a response by the international disaster relief organisation, ShelterBox.

ShelterBox has been responding to the Syrian refugee crisis since last year, having committed over $1 million of aid to refugee families living in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, as well as those who remain internally displaced within Syria’s borders.

Fighting between armed opposition groups has forced many families to head north to Iraq Kurdistan to seek safety.

ShelterBox tents and kitchen sets already stored in the country as contingency stocks whilst the Syria crisis continues to feed instability in the region are now being used to help some of the thousands of Iraqi families internally displaced.

‘Whilst preparing to deliver aid with a long-standing partner, we are also exploring several other options to respond to the needs of large numbers of displaced people in different parts of the region,’ said ShelterBox response team member Phil Duloy in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

'People need help now'
‘People need help now and having prepositioned aid in the country already has allowed us to respond quickly to some of the shelter needs,’ added response team member Malcolm Shead. ‘A further 1,000 tents are being sent next week to help more people across multiple locations that are experiencing waves of displaced families who are currently sleeping in the open as the collective shelters are full.’

Many thanks to all of our supporters for helping us to bring shelter and comfort to families made homeless by disaster and humanitarian crisis. New Zealanders can help the refugee’s by donating to ShelterBox online at: www.givealittle.co.nz/org/shelterbox

About Shelterbox
ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that provides emergency shelter and life-saving supplies to families around the world who are affected by disasters. The ShelterBox solution is to provide the essentials a family needs to survive and begin rebuilding their lives at the time when they need it the most.

ShelterBox is a project partner of Rotary International and aims to help the areas where the need is greatest by providing shelter, warmth, comfort and dignity to families in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Each big, green ShelterBox is tailored to every disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water purification and storage equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children's activity pack and other vital items.

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