Scouts Issue Urgent Appeal: Tent Drive for Quake Victims

by Nikolai Bourdain and Daniel Murray from Troop 4

See also: Living in Larchmont, Trying to Get Help to Family in Pakistan

(December 8, 2005) Local Boy Scouts Troop 4 is putting out an urgent appeal for area families to donate tents to send to victims of Pakistan’s October 8 earthquake.

Two months ago, a devastating earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale.hit Pakistan and India. The quake affected 3.5 million people, killing 80,000. Winter is fast approaching and the hardest hit areas are high in the mountains where the cold sets in earlier and the weather is harsher. Many of the roads that once were used to reach villages hit by the quake are now impassable. Many have been cleared only to have rockslides cover them again.

The number one priority of the people hit by the quake is housing. Since the roads are largely gone, it is nearly impossible to supply the now-homeless quake victims with sturdy materials for more permanent housing. Tents, therefore, must be the answer as they are more easily transported by helicopter, caravan or other available means.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 4 have chosen to address this need for tents. As scouts, we spend many days each year learning to live out of a tent, and we have discovered the importance of even the most primitive shelter.

This is why we are collecting tents, which we will then send to Pakistan with the generous help of Pakistan International Airlines, that has agreed to transport our donated tents to a collection point from where they will be taken to the affected area. PDQ Mail Plus in Larchmont is graciously handling all packaging of tents for shipment.

Our goal is to collect as many tents as possible along with donations of new tarps and duct tape to help winterize them. We are hoping that many in our community will remember an unused tent or one destined to be replaced in the spring that could be donated now. We hope many, as the weather worsens, will think of those in the quake area who must now try to survive the coming winter.

We have a tight collection schedule for our tent drive. We will collect tents from Monday, December 5 to Saturday, December 10.

Our collection points are the following:

• Murray Ave. School
• Larchmont Post Office
• Maxwell Street Transfer (Recycling) Center
• Larchmont Train Station (6:30-9:00 am only)
• PDQ Mail Plus, Palmer Ave in Larchmont
• Jack’s Auto, Palmer Ave Larchmont

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