Club president John Utting told 75 guests at a charter evening to mark the 90th anniversary of the club, that people in Deal High Street donated £3,150 in just eight hours to help people coping in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.

He said: “The support from the generous people of Deal was simply overwhelming. One lady came up and donated £20 and then said it wasn’t enough. She came back five minutes later with another £20. People have been wonderful.”

The money will buy five ShelterBoxes, which are 10-man disaster survival tents with life-saving equipment. Money left over will pay for special water filtration equipment, providing 100 families with clean water.

Guests at the charter evening, held at Dover Marina Hotel last Wednesday, included Deal mayor Marlene Burnham and members of the Rotary clubs from Calais and Ostend.

Olivier Bouchez, secretary of the Calais club, presented Mr Utting with a case of Beaujolais Nouveau and a book of watercolour paintings of the French coastal town.

Mr Bouchez and Michel Rocher, also from the Calais club, were given honorary membership of Deal Rotary.

Ronny Callemin, secretary of the Ostend club, presented Mr Utting with copies of a First World War commemorative calendar to be given to every Deal Rotary member. Next year is the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War, and the calendars – produced by the Rotary Club of Ypres – show photographs of the Flanders battlefields.

During the evening Mr Utting read out a message of congratulations to the club on its 90th anniversary from Ron Burton, president of Rotary International in Chicago, USA. Part of the message read: “I share your pride in reaching this significant milestone. Your community has been given a great gift these past 90 years. Kent is a better place because of you.”

Another guest at the evening was Chris Barnett, governor of Rotary for Kent, East Sussex and south-east London, who said: “Congratulations on serving the community of Deal for 90 years. It’s a real achievement.”

A 90th birthday cake was provided by the Inner Wheel Club of Deal whose president Elizabeth Evans said: “Rotary is about something special and people all over the world feel the same.”

During the evening past president Howard Binsted was given a Paul Harris Fellowship (Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary) to recognise his community work in Deal, including his involvement with the Golf Road community centre and the White Cliffs Talking Newspaper.