When a natural disaster strikes or a war breaks out, thousands of people are often left homeless. Shelters quickly become dangerously overcrowded, and it takes time to bring in temporary housing or build new construction. Emergency supplies, food, and basic medical equipment can also be tough to track down when so many people are injured and in need of aid. So how can we help people who’ve been displaced and have nowhere to turn?

Tom Henderson, a British Rotary Club member and former search-and-rescue diver for the Royal Navy, came up with a solution in 2001: the ShelterBox.

This simple, portable box includes all the essentials to keep a family or group of people safe and warm in the aftermath of a disaster, while they are waiting for more permanent relief. The ShelterBox typically includes a 10-person tent; thermal blankets and insulated ground sheets; a multi-fuel stove; cooking pans and utensils; water purification tablets and collapsible water containers; a tool kit; and even a pack filled with children’s entertainment, including coloring books and art supplies.

The contents of each ShelterBox may vary, depending on the region and what is needed, but the equipment included in each box is generally purchased at cost price from leading manufacturers, and is packed by groups of volunteers, keeping prices low. In general, it costs about $1,000 to stock and ship one ShelterBox, which will provide support to up to ten people.

The first set of ShelterBoxes were sent out to India following an earthquake in 2001, and since then, the organization has shipped about 50,000 boxes to people in disaster-affected areas including Afghanistan, China, Burma, and to the Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana and Mississippi, among many other regions. Most recently, a set of 668 ShelterBoxes was distributed to refugees in Sri Lanka, who were forced to leave their communities after the region was ravaged by war.