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When emergencies happen, that last thing we have time for is rounding up important documents - or the mindset to remember everything we may need.  Here are some great suggestions to start building your own Grab & Go Binder.

If you are like me, eating cold food from a can in an emergency doesn’t sound like a great idea.  There are many different options of things you can have on hand to cook your food.  In addition to your outside grill, a camping stove, smokers, etc., you can make homemade stoves and ovens.  Think about what your family has on hand, what you may want to watch for to purchase, and what you could make for a fun family night activity.  Here is one idea, but I used a tuna can not a cat food can.   

There is no perfect list for the best foods to keep in your 72-hour kit, but there are lots of suggestions.  This month we are going to focus on either updating the food we currently have, or starting now to get the food we need.  Every six months – at conference time - have a 72-hour Kit picnic, eat what you have saved and replace it with new stuff.  However, this is not to replace conference cinnamon rolls!  According to sites on the internet, here are 10 must haves in any 72-hour kit. 

·         Clean drinking water

·         Jerky and other dehydrated meats

·         Canned fruits, veggies and legumes

·         Canned meats

·         Dried fruit

·         Crackers

·         Shelf-stable beverages

·         Granola and protein bars

·         Freeze-dried meals and desserts

Finding the best powdered milk can be a challenge.  I remember gagging it down when I was a child and my Dad was out of work, so years ago I set out to find one that my children could tolerate.  We like Morning Moos powdered milk, but others like the Church’s powdered milk, it is good to try a variety and see what your family will like. Store 16 lbs per person per year.  

April is Beans Month!!  The suggested year supply of beans is 60 lbs per person.  Before you panic - because this is A LOT of beans - remember this includes what you already have in your food storage and 3 month supply (1 can of beans equals 1/2 lb of dried beans). This is everything you didn't know you need to know about beans.

Part of a year-supply of food includes a three month supply of what your family would normally eat.  The understanding is that in a natural or other disaster, it could take up to three months to get everything up and running again.  

Keep working on getting your sugar storage, but this month your challenge is to come up with at least fourteen meals you could cook solely from your three-month food storage.  You can then multiply the ingredients by six to find out how much you need to have on hand.  Watch Facebook for meal ideas.  Also, please post your meal ideas.  I am always looking for new options.

For the year 2023, I want to suggest several items each month to help build your food storage.  By the end of 2023, you can have your 3 month supply as well as a year supply of the suggested items. 

The Church recommends a MINIMUM of 60 lbs of sugar or honey per person, per year, and 8 lbs of Salt per person, per year.

This can sound like an overwhelming task, but I’m hoping it is something we can all do.  Thankfully salt and sugar have a LONG shelf life, so as long as we are rotating them regularly, we can keep our year-long food storage up to date. 

 The sugar doesn’t need to all be white sugar, there are many options to choose from:

Hard Candy                          Pancake Syrup

Confectioner’s Sugar            Honey

Brown Sugar                        Molasses

Jam/Jelly                              Corn Syrup

 WEEK 10 CHALLENGE: Mess kit, contact list and soap.

1.  Mess kit: if you are like me, when you think of mess kit, you think if the metal ones I used when I was a young woman.  If you have enough of those for your family, great!!  However, if you do not, as I do not, this is a simple as a plastic plate, plastic cup and plastic forks.  Check out the Dollar Store for plates, cups and forks. 

2.  Emergency contact list – laminated: it is recommended that your list includes someone outside your city and someone outside the state, if possible.  Laminating the list will protect it from the weather, but storing it inside a plastic sandwich bag works just as well. 

3.  Soap & hand sanitizer: I still have small bottles of hand sanitizer left over from the pandemic, so this is a great way to put those to good use.  Also, add a bar of soap to each person’s 72-hour kit.  It would be best to store it in a plastic sandwich bag as well to protect it from getting wet. 

WEEK 9 CHALLENGE: Emergency Blanket and Cash

1.      Emergency Blanket – this is not your typical blanket, this is one of those shiny, metal looking blankets that fold up really small but can keep you really warm in an emergency.  These can be picked up fairly inexpensively from Wal-Mart or your local emergency preparedness store.  Make sure you have one for each family member.

2.      Cash – I haven’t been able to find out an actual recommended dollar amount.  I guess it is up to each family to decide how much they think is needed.  However, make sure you keep it in small bills to make purchases easier.  And keep a little in each backpack.

WEEK 8 CHALLENGE: Moist towelettes and a notebook and pen

1.      Moist towelettes.  Who knows when the next shower will be, so a small package of moist towelettes (or baby wipes) in each person's pack will let everyone feel a little refreshed.  And they may come in handy for other things as well.

2.      Notebook and pen.  It may be necessary to take notes, leave notes, or even give the kids something to doodle on.  A notebook and pen is a great thing for each person to have.  

WEEK 7 CHALLENGE: Dust masks, medical history of each person, ponchos

1.      Dust Masks. If you are like me, you probably have masks in your house already.  Grab a couple for each person and put them in your backpacks.

2.      Medical History. Type up a quick medical history for each person, include medical concerns, medications, allergies, etc., in case someone else needs to know the medical history of your family.  It might be good to get it laminated.

3.      Ponchos.  These are inexpensive rain ponchos to protect from, well, the rain!  You can find them in the camping section of most department stores.  

WEEK 6 CHALLENGE: Batteries, whistles and socks.

1.      Extra batteries for your flashlights.  These will need to be changed out regularly so they don’t corrode.  Do not store them in the flashlight.

2.      Whistles. These can be purchased cheap at most dollar stores.  You don’t need anything fancy, just something that can be used to attract attention if necessary.

3.      Socks.  If you are like me, you put a set of clothes in the backpacks but forgot the socks.  You’ll want a couple pairs for each person – extra under clothes might not be a bad idea either!

WEEK 5 CHALLENGE: Hopefully last week was a good catch up week.  This week it’s clothes, blankets and notebooks

1.      Put a set of clothes in each backpack.  At this point each backpack should have water, a flashlight, and set of clothes including a long sleeve shirt and long pants. 

2.      Emergency Blanket.  These are those silver blankets that come in a small package – not a real blanket.  You can buy them at Walmart, on Amazon, or at emergency supply stores. They should be less than $5 each.

3.      Notebook and pen.  These don’t have to be fancy, just throw a small pen and notebook in the backpack for leaving notes or taking notes.

WEEK 4 CHALLENGE: Follow up on past challenges as the end of summer is super busy and I need more time to work on these challenges myself:

WEEK 3 CHALLENGE: Clothes, flashlight and communication!

1.      Start collecting clothes for each family member.  You will need to replace these as often as your children are growing, every 6 months should work.  You don’t want to be caught with clothes that are two sizes too small!!

2.      Make sure each backpack has a flashlight.  These don’t have to be expensive, just a simple flashlight to help in the dark.

3.      Do some research on battery-operated or hand-crank radios.  These can be pricey, just start looking at what is out there.

WEEK 2 CHALLENGE: This week's challenge is to start collecting the items needed for your 72-hour kits. I am attaching a list of possible items to include in a 72-hour kit. Do not get overwhelmed, it is pretty comprehensive, and some things may not apply to your family. The list also includes a car kit emergency list and what you may need for your pet in an emergency. Please take the lists and make any necessary adjustments for your circumstances. In the coming weeks we'll continue to add to our 72 hour kits.

1.      Go through the 72-hour list and see what you have. You may be surprised that many of the items on the list are in your cupboards. Pull those out and check them off your list so you know what you still need.

2.      Water is one of the most important things we'll need. It's also a good time to check your emergency water supply. If you haven't rotated it in a while, you may want to do that. If you don't have one, you may want to start.

WEEK 1 CHALLENGE:

1.      Find a backpack/bag/container in which to store your 72 hour kit. Don't go crazy, this should be really inexpensive. Look around for old backpacks your kids are no longer using for school. I think backpacks are the easiest to carry, but you could store your 72 hour kits in buckets like the youth used for trek. You can even use large beach bags, etc. If you don't have anything around your house, make a DI run and see what they have there.

2.      If you have 72 hours kits and haven't look at them for a while, take some time this week to go throw them, get rid of old food and take note of what you need to replace. I'll be posting a list of things you may need in a 72 hour kit in the next few days.

You can also check out information on ready .gov

https://www.ready.gov/winter-ready 

With the crazy weather we have experienced so far this Spring, we all need to be prepared for the possibility of flooding basements.   

Studies show we are almost 150 years overdue for an earthquake.  Living on the fault line, hopefully we can all be prepared if one happens.  Here are some ideas.