Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Weekly/Monthly Assignments (Week of July 13th)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Torrance Stake, Family and Friends,

Carson Ward Emergency Preparedness Fair

Mark your calendars for

Saturday, September 6th

9:00am - 12:30pm

Carson Building

22721 Main St., Carson, California

Booths, Demonstrations and Displays

Cub Scouts selling hot dog and chips for $1.50

Come join the fun and be better prepared! 

 

No Room at the Inn?

Sunday a sister in my Ward (church) approached me and stated, "It would take a Mac truck to store everything you would need to be prepared for a disaster". I thought about that statement for several hours. Yes, it does take room to store food, water and emergency supplies. 

 

It all depends on the size of your family, how much you will need to store, and if you live in a place where you can store food, water and emergency supplies. Some of us are a family of one, some a family of two, some a family of five and some with large family of eight or more. Some of us have parents or grandparents living with us, or may be even grown children and their family. And, we may have extended family who may show up at our door in need of help. Some of us can store enough food and emergency supplies for a year, but most of us can only store enough for one month to three months, may be six months. We are each different and the number in our house hold is different.

Storing food storage, water and emergency supplies takes creativity! One of our daughters while living in Utah had a large cool storage room in her basement, a dream for those who do food storage. The cooler the storage place the better, the food last longer. Most emergency supplies (non perishable foods) like paper goods, tents (shelter), emergency cooking equipment like lighting, heating, and sanitation supplies can be stored in a back yard storage shed, a garage, or an attic. Those with a basement have an ideal place, usually cool and dark. But if it is damp, not a good place to store food, it needs to be dry too.

Places you can create room for your food storage:

1) Under your bed: You can put blocks on your bed post under the bed to raise your bed and create a great place to store food.

2) Closets, cupboards and drawers:  Having lived in our home for 43 years and 6 children we had accumulated a lot of things. We spent several months going through each room at a time, cleaning out drawers and closets and cupboards. Do not be afraid to get rid of clothes you have not worn in years and say "some day I will be back into that size". It was amazing how much we were able to get rid of. Some things we donated, gave to children now that they have their own homes, and threw some things away. We reorganized things and found space for our food storage all around the house. I must admit though, it is easier having all the children out of the house now, but we still store some of their things. Important: The bathroom is not an ideal place to store food, it is too damp! This photo is a great example of how organizing a closet would create more room for food storage. The top shelve and floor have so much room not being utilized. Organization is one of the keys to food storage.
 

3) Kitchen cupboards and pantries: We were amazed at how much space we created by going through our kitchen cupboards. We had baking dishes, dishes, appliances and other items we had not used in years and would probably not use again. We donated them. We reorganized the kitchen and created some space for canned foods. Note: If the cupboard in the photo was more organized you could get a lot more food storage in there.

 

4) Linen closets: If you create empty drawers when doing number two above, move your linens to those drawers. Then use your linen closet for food storage. It is a great place because it is usually cool, dry and dark, best place to store food.
 




3) Side tables: When you purchase end tables for beside your couch or bed, coffee tables or other types of tables consider purchasing ones with inclosed storage space. You can even take boxes of dehydrated/freeze-dried foods or other canned foods, stack them, place a table cloth over them, and then place a round or square beveled glass on top to create a side table.

 
4) Behind the couch: Pull the couch out from the wall or angel is so you can create space behind it. You can place a couch table behind it and then store food under the table.


 

5) Garage: Your garage is not a good place to store food unless it is always at a temperature of 70 degrees or less, which most are not. You can store food there, but the shelve life diminishes very quickly, to HOT!Good place for paper supplies and other non-food emergency supplies.

6) Attics: To HOT! But good for paper supplies, tents, etc. Important: Not cooking fuels, to hot!

 
7) Basements: A good place since they usually stay cool, dry and dark. Most Californians (due to earthquake region) and other states do not have basements. Those of you that do are blessed! Use them wisely. If your basement is damp, not a good place, it needs to be dry.


 

8) Be creative: Find other ways to store your food storage and emergency supplies. Look around your house, every room, and see where you can eliminate unused things and create some extra storage.

9) Keep track: Keep track of what is stored in each room (closet, drawers, cupboards, end/side tables, under beds, behind furniture), keep an inventory sheet and notebook showing what is stored in those rooms, where and when the items expire. You should inventory your food storage about every 3 months. May be a room at a time if  have your food storage all around the house. Keep like things together--example: vegetables together, canned meats together, pastas together, grains together, etc..

Weekly Assignment: Family Emergency Medical Kits

 

Many of us have some sort of medical supplies in our homes like band-aids, alcohol, peroxide, anti-infection creams, pain killers, etc.. Some of us have limited first-aid kits in our cars and home that we probably have not checked in months, years. Medications do expire!

If there was a major disaster or emergency situation would you have the proper emergency medical supplies to take care of you, your family and help your neighbors. I would say most of us do not! Right?

The next few weeks we are going to work on our Family Emergency Medical Kit. We have done this before but I am sure there are some of you who did not do it, never completed it and some things need to be replaced due to expiration dates.  Some of these items can be found at discount stores and drug stores. Make sure you check the expiration dates before purchasing them, you want them to last for at least a year or more.

Note: Make sure you keep this out of the reach of your young children and explain to the family it is your Family Emergency Medical Kit/Supplies. If you need to use an items from it, make sure you replace it right away! 

This week add the following:

1) Maxi sanitary pads: These are great for major wounds and when you need to stop the bleeding. They are very absorbent. The brand does not matter. Have several on hand in your Family Emergency Medical  Kit/Bag.You can find these at discount stores like the 99 Cent Store, the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, etc..

 

2) Pepto-Bismol: Check with your doctor for children's dosage and write on the bottle. You should have at least 2 bottles or more if you have a large family. Our stomachs and bowls react to stressful situation.

 

3) Aspirin: 1-2 large bottles. Great for inspect bites to take the sting out. Smash, dissolve in a little water, put on the insect bite. Good for pain and if someone is having a heart attack. DO NOT GIVE THESE TO CHILDREN WITHOUT A DOCTOR'S PERMISSION, ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE THE FLU. CAN CAUSE SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS!

If you have missed the things we have added so far go back to June 1st and follow through each week to July 13th.

July Monthly Assignment . . . Food Storage

For the next several months we are going to work on Food Storage. Each month we will work on one aspect of food storage, canned vegetables, fruits, soups, packages items like pastas, pancake mixes, etc., and many other items. Hopefully, with this process you will discover how easy it is to set up and add to your food storage.  

See last week's posting July 6th to read more about the July Monthly Assignment. 

This month do the following:  

1) Keep track for a month of what your family eats, including eating out, and the ingredients it takes to make those meals and snacks. 

2) Once you have calculated what your family eats in a month, figure out how much of those food items, including seasonings, etc., you will need to store for the number of weeks or months goal you have set. As we work on different items each month you will have a goal of how many cans of vegetables, etc. you will need to work towards your goal. 

When it comes to Food Storage keep is simple so it becomes an every day part of your life! 

Emergency Preparedness Ideas:

It there is an emergency, plan on not have access to your computers. We all need to back up the important things on our computers, laptops, smart phones (all electrical devices). It is also a good idea to put all important valuable things on our computers and electrical devices on discs or flash drives. If there is an evacuation you can grab it quickly and leave. If there is no electricity where you are and you go to another place that does has electricity you will be able to access your information. Keep all these types of things together in a marked water proof box, easy to access if in a hurry and to protect the valuable information. 

 Comments: Please post your comments below. Share your personal experiences with food and water storage and emergency preparedness. We can all learn from each other.