ShelterBox
Bill Tobin, Rotary Relations Manager, ShelterBox USA
A member of the Rotary Club of El Dorado Hills California since 2004, Bill Tobin has served in several club and district leadership roles and is a major donor to The Rotary Foundation. In 2016-2017 Rotary District 5180 awarded Bill “Rotarian of the Year” for his active and dedicated service to Rotary, and for his commitment to ShelterBox. Bill began as a volunteer for ShelterBox after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Since then Bill has shared the ShelterBox story to thousands of Rotarians, organized fundraisers and awareness events for ShelterBox USA and helped lead the team of USA Ambassadors in raising over 1.4 million dollars for ShelterBox in 2017. For his volunteer efforts with ShelterBox USA, Bill has received the United States Presidential Volunteer Service Award seven times. After a 30-year career as a nuclear power plant inspector, Bill earned a certification in NonProfit management from the University of the Pacific and joined the staff at ShelterBox USA as Rotary Relations Manager in January 2019. Bill is married to Sherie for 36 years, she is an Assistant Governor in District 5180. They have two sons and a daughter in law.
ShelterBox is Rotary International’s Project Partner for disaster relief and was founded in the year 2000 ShelterBox has responded to over 300 disasters in 100 countries providing shelter and life-saving aid to over 1.5 million people. ShelterBox has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 and 2019 for projects assisting families displaced by conflict. ShelterBox is a registered charity independent of Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation.
ShelterBox is continuing to provide families with shelter and other vital aid in global areas that are most susceptible to and least prepared for the covid-19 pandemic. We are working in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, India, The Philippines, Syria, Tanzania, and Vanuatu. While this health danger is impacting all of us, people living in refugee camps or makeshift settlements are particularly vulnerable.
“The partnership between Rotary and ShelterBox provides a place of refuge for vulnerable people to stay as healthy as possible. Covid-19 is a Global Humanitarian Emergency in its own right, but it will also compound and exacerbate pre-existing crises. When it comes to fighting a pandemic, the most vulnerable need our protection – or everyone is at risk. As Emergency shelter experts, ShelterBox has a vitally important part to play in the global response to Covid-19.” - John Hewko, RI General Secretary