Friday, January 29, 2010

Shelter for Haiti with Blue Ridge Mountain Sports

Check out this program from Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, a close partner of Mountain Lake. Trade in your old tent and get 20% off of a new one!

Shelter for Haiti Tent Drive going on at all Blue Ridge Mountain Sports locations until further notice.

Beginning January 27th, all Blue Ridge Mountain Sports locations began serving as drop-off points for the Shelter for Haiti tent drive. In an effort to provide critically needed shelter for victims of the January 12th earthquake that struck Haiti, Blue Ridge staff will be collecting tents in good working condition with all parts accounted for and any new tarps people are willing to donate.

All tents & tarps will be inspected and shipped to Convoy of Hope in Missouri, a 501©3 non-profit aid relief agency with staff working directly out of the Convoy of Hope warehouse outside of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Since the earthquake, Convoy of Hope has shipped 12 shipping containers of badly needed food & supplies in addition to their staff providing medical aid to injured Haitians.

Following President Rene Preval’s request for 200,000 tents, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports contacted Convoy of Hope among other aid agencies searching for an outlet to ship donated tents.

“Competition for the canvas homes has boiled into arguments and machete fights, a sign of the desperation felt by the hundreds of thousands of people without homes struggling for shelter in this wrecked city. Haiti’s president has asked the world for 200,000 tents and says he will sleep in one himself.” 1

Next to food and medical supplies, shelter is the next primary concern as Haiti begins to see increased temperatures & rain moving into the spring months.

“Outside of the food area, the two prime worries are: one, medical services or medical equipment, and, two, shelter,” said Lewis Lucke, U.S. special coordinator for relief and reconstruction.”

As an additional incentive, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is offering 20% off coupons for all tents & tarps with the donation of an old tent or new tarp for Haitian aid relief. To find the nearest Blue Ridge Mountain Sports store location, click here.

For more information about the Shelter for Haiti tent drive, contact Kurt Peterson at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, 866-905-2767×312 or kpeterson at brms.com.