Preparedness is a virtually bottomless topic. If you are new to emergency preparedness, you are most certainly asking, “Where do I start?” Good question!

To help answer that question, we have created our Custom Preparedness Planning Guide. This Guide steps you through the preparedness mindset, including the various facets of preparedness:

• Protection
• Heating/Cooling
• Water
• Food
• Health
• Communication
• Community

The Guide discusses how much food you need to store, per person, in calories, and in pounds.

The major portion of the Guide is devoted to a list of almost 350 items that a household would need to be self sufficient. Many of these items you already have, but you will see many you would like to procure. Most of the items can be purchased locally, and there are sources suggested. Some of the products are specialized, and we would love to be your source for those.

One of the most important parts of the service is not in the Guide, but comes with it. We’ll spend some time with you, for free, discussing your needs and how you should prioritize them, using the Guide to give us direction. Most people have one or two areas covered well as a result of their occupation, but in other areas they are less prepared. Our consultation service is designed to help you lay out a plan for preparation, to dispel fear, and replace it with confidence.

You would be surprised at how much money a family spends every year on frivolous or wasteful activities. Simply redirecting some of that income toward preparedness can have you far down the road toward a confident future in just a year. Adjusting your grocery shopping so that you “store what you eat and eat what you store” is pretty easy.

Getting your kids involved in the process is good for them and fun, too. Your children might like setting up a rainwater collection barrel (or two). Just look at the areas of preparedness that need work and you will see several that your children can help with.

Included with the Guide is a CD packed with preparedness documents publicly available on the web. These documents range from military survival guides to medical videos demonstrating first aid techniques. There is a huge range of reading material, valuable in a preparedness situation.

Please ask us about the Custom Preparedness Planning Service and Guide. The Guide is $20 (which covers our printing). The consultation service is free and is done as a service to our community. If you are prepared, then our community is stronger.