Shepherdstown Rotarians have donated $2,000 to ShelterBox, an international disaster relief agency.

Half the total amount, $1,000, was raised by the Shepherd University chapter of Rotaract, Rotary’s organization for young adults. The chapter’s student members raised these funds over the past year through a variety of activities, including operating concession stands at Shepherd sporting events, and soliciting contributions from students and the community.

The other $1,000 was a matching contribution from the Rotary Club of Shepherdstown. These funds came from the proceeds of the Club’s 2014 Wine-tasting Dinner, which was held last March.

A check for the donation was presented to Mike Hicks, a local-area ShelterBox volunteer, at the Rotary Club’s regular Dec. 2 breakfast meeting at Shepherdstown’s Bavarian Inn.

ShelterBox is a nonprofit agency that provides emergency aid worldwide to victims of natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

The aid is specifically tailored for each situation but typically includes a tent that will house a family, thermal blankets and groundsheets, water storage and purification equipment, solar lamps, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, and children’s activity materials.

A $1,000 dollar donation to ShelterBox supports an aid package for one family.

Founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, ShelterBox has so far provided emergency aid for well over one million people in more than 90 different countries.

The agency attracted support from individual Rotary clubs early on, and Rotary International 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.

To learn more about ShelterBox, go to the website of its U.S. office, at www.shelterboxusa.org.