Rotary Club of Shepherdstown member Erwin Asam, left, receives the 2021-2022 Gold Hero Award from Martinsburg Rotary Club member Pete Mulford, who represents ShelterBox locally, in the Bavarian Inn on July 19. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The Rotary Club of Shepherdstown has been recognized for donating more than $5,000 this year to ShelterBox, an international nonprofit organization providing emergency aid to victims of natural disasters, war and other humanitarian crises.

The organization presented the club with a 2021-2022 Gold Hero Award at the club’s July 19 breakfast meeting in the Bavarian Inn.

The club’s donation was spearheaded by club member Erwin Asam, specifically with the desire to help Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion of their country. The club raised the donated funds internally, through individual member contributions.

ShelterBox has actively assisted many Ukrainian refugees, both within the nation’s borders and in neighboring countries that have received numerous Ukrainian refugees, like Poland and Moldova.

Founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, ShelterBox has provided emergency aid for people in more than 100 different countries. The organization’s aid is specifically tailored to address each country’s immediate needs, which typically include emergency shelter and equipment, such as tents, mattresses, blankets, hygiene supplies, water purification and storage kits, solar lamps and cooking utensils.

The organization attracted support from individual Rotary clubs soon after it was originally established, to the extent that Rotary International officially entered into a formal partnership with it in 2012. Today, Rotarians around the world not only provide a significant proportion of ShelterBox’s donations, but also provide logistical support to the organization’s field operations. ShelterBox has been so effective in its work, that it has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for its relief efforts.

To learn more about ShelterBox, visit its U.S. office website, at www.shelterboxusa.org.