Emergency Preparedness, Food Storage and Monthly Assignments (Week of September 13th)

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

September

National Preparedness Month

For Many Years . . . 
 

For over 5 years I have been warning others to be prepared, my family, my church members, my friends, my neighbors and co-workers. Why? 

Because I care! 

One reason, our church leaders have been admonishing and warning us for years to be prepared, temporally and spiritually.

Another reason, I received inspiration from the Holy Ghost I needed to be better prepared and warn my family and others. I want you each to have peace of mind knowing you are prepared for when a natural disaster happens to you, when and if an economical disaster happens to you, when health issues happen and you cannot work, when any situation happens that causes you to need the things you have prepared. 

I would rather have what I need and not need it than need it and not have it! 

When the disaster is upon you, it is to late to prepare! 

This is National Preparedness Month, a great time to start preparing if you have not so far and a great time to assess what you have and do not have and become better prepared. 

Please, if you are not prepared, start now! Do not procrastinate another day and regret later you were not prepared!

A great event that will help you become prepared and be better prepared . . . 

Bi-Stake Emergency Preparedness Fair
 (Torrance North Stake and Torrance Stake)

Saturday, October 24, 2015

9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

2000 W. Artesia Blvd., Torrance, California USA

(Near the 110 Freeway and the 91 Freeway)

40+ booths on emergency preparedness, food storage, water storage and purification, 72 Hour Pack, emergency cooking, emergency lighting and heating, financial preparedness, first-aid, sanitation, sheltering in place, cooking with wheat and bread making, child emergency ID cards and finger printing, camping skills, spiritual preparedness, health and fitness preparedness, utility emergencies, earthquake preparedness, emergency pet care, food gardening, insurance preparedness, home safety and security, communications, community agencies, activities for children and the whole family and much much more. 

You do not want to miss this event! 

New September Monthly Assignments

Food Storage: Drinks 

This month we are focusing on adding all types of drinks to our 

short storage and long storage food storage. 

Drinks: Fruit juices (bottles, canned, cartons, dehydrated/freeze-dried), lemonade mix, milk (dehydrated/freeze-dried), hot chocolate mix, apple cider mix, etc.. What ever type of drinks your family will drink. Do not store something they will not drink, a waste of your money. Fruit juices in bottles, cans and cartons do not usually last as long, about a year. Make sure you keep on top of the expiration dates and rotate before they expire. Box powdered milk from the grocery store usually only last about 6 months. Rotate them as needed. Use the milk so your family will be accustomed to drinking it, use while cooking and where milk is call for in recipes. There are long term storage dehydrated/freeze-dried milks that are whole milk, watch the expiration dates on these, they may not store 20+ years, it may only be 7-10 years.

How much to store: Determine how much your family drinks, each variety, in a month, multiply that by the number of months you have set your food storage goal. Each time you go grocery shopping or find the types of drinks you are storing on sale purchase them and add them to your food storage. Always be on the look out and aware of sales throughout the year.

Where to store: In a cool, dry, dark place like your pantry or a closet. Never in the garage, to hot!

Remember: Rotation, Rotation, Rotation is the success of any food storage.

Emergency Supplies: 
             72 Hour Emergency Family Bag

You can use a sports bag or a backpack

  

 The 72 Hour Emergency Family Bag is an important part of your 

72 Hour Individual Emergency Backpacks. 

This bag contains items you might need during the emergency that you cannot get into your 72 Hour Individual Emergency Backpacks. Click here to see what items to add to this bag. You can also review this list on the right side of this blog under "Postings". Some items can get purchased at discount stores (99 Cent Store, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, etc.), some online and some at department and sporting goods stores, some you may have around the house. 

Emergency Preparedness Ideas 

Love this idea . . .

Take a large clay pot, spray paint it gray or black (holds in the heat), and an old tire and put them together as shown in the picture above. Add potting soil and plant your vegetables. The heat from the painted clay pot and tire will help your vegetables grow. Water as needed. A great way to have a vegetable garden on a patio, balcony or where you do not have ground space. Awesome!

Ready to Eat . . .

In the beginning of a disaster you will need foods that are ready to eat, that do not need heating or cooking, food you can eat cold if needed. Ready to eat foods would include canned and some packaged foods like tuna and other canned meats, soups, chili, stews, vegetables, granola bars, hard candy, juices, etc. You will be to busy checking on those injured, addressing medical issues and helping those in need, rescuing family members and others (if safe to do so), your property for safety issues and securing shelter. You will probably be without electricity, heat, gas, water and other utilities. Long term food storage is more for when you have established a shelter and way to cook, when the disaster goes on for weeks, months.

Yes, they will be cold if you have no way to heat them, but you will have canned and packaged foods on hand so you can easily feed your family and others. Try to keep these types of foods stored together and pretty easy to access. Remember, food brings comfort in stressful situations, especially for children. 

Comments and Questions: Please share your comments and questions, they are most appreciated. We all learn from each others experiences and knowledge. Please share them below or email me at theark.carsonward@gmail.com. I will answer your questions on my next blog posting. Thank you for your comments and questions.