The RumbleBox Coalition is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides charitable contributions of earthquake preparedness kits, free of charge, to
vulnerable populations within the city of San Francisco. These populations include, but are not limited to, the elderly, the physically challenged and low
income families and individuals. All recipients receive these boxes completely free of charge, and are never required to provide any personal information to
the organization.
The kits we provide (which we call "
RumbleBoxes"), contain enough food, water, first-aid, communication and other vital emergency supplies to help cover the
72-hour period between a seismic event and the time when local, state and federal response teams are typically in place. By leveraging the economies of scale
and driving hard bargains with our suppliers, we constantly seek to lower costs while still providing the core elements of a potentially life saving survival
kit.
The organization was founded by brothers Mark Stone and Kerry Quinn, who grew up outside of Boston, but have called the Bay Area their home for decades.
In 1989 while living in Santa Cruz, Mark experienced the fear and uncertainty of a post-earthquake scenario by riding out the Loma Prieta earthquake just a
few miles from its epicenter.
His home and workplace virtually destroyed in seconds, Mark was abruptly educated on what you really need in those first few days after a major seismic
event. It was in part from those lessons where the idea for the 'RumbleBox' started to take shape. However, it was the tragedy in New Orleans that really
made us move from ideas to action.
With the benefit of hindsight, its obvious that some mistakes were made in regards to the Katrina response plan. However, the logistics of a massive response
plan, even when executed flawlessly, will always require that individuals take some personal responsibility for their own safety. Chaos reigned in New
Orleans for several days after the event, and that was with several days of warning that the event would take place.
Unfortunately, San Francisco will not
have the luxury of such a warning.
The impoverished, elderly and other vulnerable populations often bear the brunt of these disasters, being overrepresented in the populations of those
effected in those first days. Often faced with few resources and little to no family support, its these populations that the RumbleBox Coalition targets for
the giveaway campaigns.
