ShelterBox provided small tents for use in Texas shelters after Hurricane Harvey hit the city of Houston in August. The “shelters in a shelter” provided privacy for people who were ill, mothers who were breastfeeding and medical personnel.

ZELIENOPLE — It's seems appropriate at this time of year that a Zelienople man is being honored for his work in providing shelter to those in need.

Tom Grant, 81, was inducted into the ShelterBox USA Hall of Fame for raising more than $100,000 for the organization that provides emergency shelter and supplies to people who have lost their homes to natural disasters or wars.

Grant, a retired social studies teacher, said, “I started Nov. 1, 2011. It's easy to remember. They are all ones.”

Grant said, “How I raised the money is mostly I visit Rotary Clubs. ShelterBox USA is a partner project of Rotary International.

“I attend Rotary meetings and conventions, work local festivals with a demonstration booth with the items we have,” said Grant, a member of the Zelienople Rotary Club since 2005.

“And we get individual donations from nice people who hear about ShelterBox from me.”

Grant, a member of English Evangelical Lutheran Church, 200 Grandview Ave., Zelienople, said the Zelienople Ministerium and Passavant Retirement Center have donated to ShelterBox.

He and his wife Marie, he estimated, have given hundreds of presentations on behalf of the organization.

“I didn't intend this when I became an ambassador. You're supposed to give two presentations a month. It's just something that grew.”

Grant said he doesn't mind working for a good cause.

ShelterBox provides humanitarian aid in the form of family-sized tents and essential tools to start repairing and building homes. The organization's kits and boxes contain items to help transform a shelter into a home including cooking kits, solar lights, blankets, water filtration kits and activity sets for children.

ShelterBox spokeswoman Hannah Reid said a kit costs $100, and a box costs $1,000.

“But it's not always just kits and boxes,” Reid said. “It depends on the disaster. Right now in Syria for winter, since we already sent them shelter, we are sending heaters, blankets and gloves, that type of aid.

ShelterBox is also currently working in the Caribbean following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, in Bangladesh in response to flooding and the Rohingya refugee crisis and in conflict situations in Syria, Iraq and Africa.

Closer to home, Grant said, “During the flooding in Houston we (ShelterBox) provided our smaller tents to go inside the convention center that held thousands of people.

“The tents provided privacy for people who were ill, mothers who were breastfeeding, medical personnel and counseling,” said Grant. He added some tents were even used to hold Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

“Volunteers are imperative to ShelterBox's ability to provide warmth, dignity and hope to vulnerable families during their time of greatest need,” said Kerri Murray, ShelterBox USA president. “We cannot thank Tom enough for selflessly giving hundreds of hours of his personal time to generate support and compassion for people around the world.”

A survivor of polio, Grant has dedicated helping others both with ShelterBox and the Rotary's End Polio Now campaign.

“I got polio in 1952,” he said. “The lingering effects are a lack of muscle in my left leg. I have one hip muscle that lets me move my knee so I can walk with two crutches.

He intends to keep spreading the word about ShelterBox in the new year.

“It's the best charity that no one's heard of. It's a wonderful organization that falls into a niche with disaster relief.”

To make donations or for more information, visit www.ShelterBoxUSA.org or call 941-907-6036.