The United Nations Association of Santa Barbara has awarded its 2022 “Peace Prize” to humanitarian organization ShelterBox USA for its work responding to disasters and conflicts around the world.
Rep. Salud Carbajal also presented ShelterBox USA with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for its work.
The UN Association of Santa Barbara award was created six years ago to honor those in the community who advance the causes of peace, human rights, and humanitarian aid globally. ShelterBox USA, which is based in Santa Barbara, was given the award at an event attended by 100 people at Pascucci in Santa Barbara.
“ShelterBox USA is deeply grateful for this award,” said Kerri Murray, president of ShelterBox USA. “We share so many values with the UN Association of Santa Barbara, including our mission of a world where no one goes without shelter after disaster.”
Currently, some 114 million people around the world are displaced by disasters or conflicts, more than ever before.
“Whether responding to the crisis in Ukraine, drought-induced famine in Eastern Africa, or catastrophic emergencies like typhoons in the Philippines, ShelterBox remains committed to providing life-saving shelter, tools, and training to enable the most vulnerable people rebuild their homes after disaster,” Murray said.
“But we can’t do this work alone. We are so grateful to the UN Association of Santa Barbara, as well as our volunteers and staff across the world, whose quiet acts of courage and compassion make this work possible,” she said.
ShelterBox was founded in 2000 by a Rotary Club in England, with the goal of providing everything a family would need immediately after a disaster. It has grown rapidly, providing aid items including tents, water filters, solar lights, and other life-saving essentials in more than 100 countries following some 300 disasters.
ShelterBox is official project partners with Rotary International.