Who's Lora Helmer? And Why people around the world need her
Lora Helmer had her hands full at Squirrel Fest in Longview, Wash., where she informed people about ShelterBox and the work they do to house people people after natural disasters or during times of war.
By Tom Peterson
Lora Helmer of Dallesport has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award in her efforts to provide emergency shelter and supplies to people in countries racked with natural disasters and war.
For three years straight.
She’s got two silvers and a bronze for the volunteer hours she has put in with ShelterBox USA.
So who is this Lora Helmer and why does she do it?
Bennett-Williams Home - Lora’s house growing up.
Lora ‘Williams’ Helmer was born and raised in The Dalles. She is a graduate of The Dalles High School, class of 1977. And you likely know her family home - it’s the Queen Anne Victorian at 608 W. Sixth Street in The Dalles. It’s known as the Bennett-Williams home and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
She married her high school sweetheart Brian Helmer in 2011. They rekindled their romance while she was living in Hawaii and he was in Ohio. The proposal came over the phone. They met in auto mechanics class at high school in 1976. They used to cruise ‘the gut’ downtown in Brian’s red 1954 Chevy Pickup.
Brian and Lora reunited in person in The Dalles on Thanksgiving 2011. When driving home shortly after Brian and Lora married in January, 2012, she said something was telling her ‘to go home.’ After returning to Oregon shortly thereafter and it was six more months when her mother passed.
Early Years
Her first job was at Bon Marche, a retail chain of clothing stores started in Seattle. She was in Management Training.
“I failed miserably,” she said, noting it only lasted a few months. Her boss told her, ‘she had no sense of urgency.’
Helmer remembers it well. It wasn’t true, and she used it to drive her even more, setting off a decades-long career in marketing at newspapers and magazines.
She was with Willamette Week when their reporter Richard Fleming went undercover at Rajneeshpuram in Antelope in the early 1980s. Willamette Week also uncovered the story of a Portland City Councilor who was anti-gay in his rhetoric and was then found to have had an affair with another man.
“It was so heady,” Helmer said. “It was addicting.”
During her career, she worked at PNW Magazine, Seattle Weekly, the Everett Herald, the Honolulu Weekly and Pacific Business News among others.
The thread running through it all - communication.
That’s something Helmer still leans heavily on as she fundraises for ShelterBox USA through talks to service groups and attends public markets and events.
“A big part of my why is I like to play to my strengths,” she said. “Communication.”
Helmer was at Squirrel Fest in Longview, Washington Aug. 21 promoting ShelterBox. The Squirrel-Centric event included parades, a marketplace, kids activities and Helmer letting people know about the need to help people in dire situations around the world.
With help from Helmer’s efforts of raising awareness and funds for ShelterBox, the organization provided shelter and lifesaving supplies to more than 2,000,000 people in 13 countries, including 4 responses to the Philippines (Super Typhoon Goni, Typhoon Vonfong, Taal Volcano, and COVID-19) as well as our responses in Honduras (Hurricanes Eta and Iota), Somaliland (severe drought), Vanuatu (Cyclone Harold), India (Cyclone Amphan), Paraguay (COVID-19), Tanzania (flooding), Sudan (flooding), Burkina Faso (conflict), Syria (conflict), Nigeria (conflict), Cameroon (conflict), and Ethiopia (conflict).
Devestation in Haiti just several weeks ago - Reports have confirmed that more than 138,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged leaving nearly 1 million people displaced after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on August 14, 2021. This is where the work of ShelterBox is essential, Helmer said.
“The lifesaving work of ShelterBox is only possible because of our inspiring volunteers like Lora Helmer, whose service in their communities is ensuring families made homeless by disaster and conflict situations have access to essential shelter and supplies,” said Kerri Murray, President of ShelterBox USA. “This distinction truly sets her apart as someone committed to serving others and making the world a better place. Never has this work been more important as we scaled up our efforts to both shelter families and to protect them from COVID-19.”
ShelterBox USA President Kerri Murray left and Lora Helmer, second from right at a recent gathering and training for volunteers.
So what drives her philanthropic work?
Helmer simply told a story.
“An African woman had militants enter her home and she watched as they killed her parents and brothers in front of her. They told her, ‘if she wanted to live - go.’ She had to run. She ended up in one of the camps that ShelterBox had set up. She is now married with children.”
Helmer said the story shows the difference that basic human shelter and providing hope can do.
Her Rotarian roots also led her to ShelterBox.
The program was set up in 2000 when it became clear Shelter was a basic need that was not being met worldwide. It was established by Rotarian and former Royal Navy Search and Rescue Diver Tom Henderson in Cornwall, England.
Helmer first heard about ShelterBox in 2007 and finally was able to sign up as a volunteer when she met her mentor Bill Woodard in 2016. ShelterBox only takes monetary donations to efficiently deliver the most basic of needs at a moment’s notice.
Helmer’s Mentor Bill Woodard, left, inspired Helmer to Volunteer with ShelterBox. This group is responsible for thousands of hours of volunteer work helping people across the world. Pictured from left, Woodard, Ned Morris, Nancy Dodge, Lora Helmer, Dave Hall, Greg Vick, and ‘Disaster Dave’ Nichols.
That’s because getting materials into other countries can be rather tricky. For example, Helmer said single-use plastics were not allowed in some places.
Helmer said the basic ShelterBox package weighed 120 pounds, making it difficult to tote around as she gives talks about the need and demonstrates what their donations pay for.
But they contain a lot - an 8-person tent capable of withstanding 120 mph winds, solar lights, mosquito nets, water filtration, cooking gear and sleeping bags.
Basics of a ShelterBox
The more widely used ShelterKits help people rebuild after a natural disaster, providing hand tools to rebuild shelters. There are even school boxes, providing 25 students with the basics such as crayons and chalkboards.
And making the deliveries and getting set up in a natural disaster area is difficult at best.
Helmer said that work was best left to others. She said her friend Ned Morris of Walla Walla was deployed to Malawi, East Africa.
She said these ShelterBox volunteers must enter the country and quickly get the lay of the land, and determine where the need is most severe. And often government officials are not truthful. She said they rely on Rotarian groups in those countries to help lay that groundwork.
Helmer said they are always recruiting volunteers at ShelterBox for those that share the passion for helping others.
“With the escalation of natural disaster incidents and conflicts in the world we need to continue to pursue these efforts of helping the average citizens in countries around the world. Relief never stops. It’s 24/7.”
Interested in volunteering or making a donation? You can reach Helmer at lorahelmerworks@gmail.com
Below is a video by ShelterBox on mobilizing the humanitarian effort in Haiti.
