October 2023 District 10 Newsletter

We have been SO busy since our last District 10 Newsletter. Finally we have one for October. We really believe the adage about not running faster than you have strength, but we always want to encourage our friends to do what they can to be prepared for harder times, no matter what the source is. Please read this with your family's well-being in mind. Have a great day, week, whatever until next time we talk!

 District 10

October 2023 Newsletter

“If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear…BUT YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!” -Popular saying adapted by us.

Goals:

Practice:

Have a Family Council and discuss your status in areas of Preparedness (see back). Make a prioritized list and, together, come up with a plan to consistently act upon it: 

Short Term Preparedness:

“Go Bag” and security items to keep in your cars and at home. A family plan of where your children will meet you in a general emergency. 

Long Term Preparedness:

Evaluate your mental and emotional state. If there are areas you could work on, take the necessary steps. Get qualified help if needed.

Evaluate the work ethic, sense of personal responsibility, and willingness to contribute of individual family members. In tough times, whatever the cause, everyone will need to work together. This will not happen automatically or all of a sudden.

Prep Equipment:

The Holy Scriptures

Connect:

Learn all you can about, and practice daily connection with your Father in Heaven. Learn to listen to and follow the impressions He gives you. As you act on these impressions, He will bless you with more.

The following is from a handout given to us by Jarolyn Stout: 

Make a Plan

a. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”

What do I need to be prepared? What do you have, what do you need, and where will you start?

b. Start small and work up in each category. Set deadlines for yourself. Write it down.

1. Water: 2 week supply.

2. Emergency: Portable 72 hour kit.

3. Three Month Supply: part of your normal daily diet.

4. Basic: sustains life

5. Expanded: adds to variety. Will include: a. Greater variety of food and supplies.

b. Garden: adds to expanded; store seeds for next year

c. Fuel: replace at winter end, fuel for a generator, lights for power outage

d. Clothing: material, extra clothes, hand-me-downs.

2. Water: 2 week supply of 14 gallons per person. More for animals / extra storage if room.

3. Emergency Preparedness

a. Water! Minimum 1 gallon per day.

b. 72 hour kit: portable container with emergency supply of water, food requiring no refrigeration or cooking, medication, clothes, sanitary supplies, first aid kit, candles/matches, flashlight/batteries, ax/shovel, blanket.

c. Updated immunizations.

d. Readily available important documents (birth/ marriage certificates, SS#’s, insurance info, etc)

4. Three month supply

a. Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal diet.

b. Purchase a few extra items each week and build a one week supply of food.

c. Gradually add to it until it is sufficient for three months.

d. Rotate these regularly to avoid spoilage.

5. Basic Food Storage. Gradually build a long term supply of food. These are life sustaining foods and non-foods items that will store for long periods. Recommended basic foods and amounts are: a. Grains (wheat, rice, corn, other cereal grains) - 300 #/ person

b. Dried beans and other legumes – 35 #/person (old lists said 60# /person)

c. Nonfat Dry Milk - 16 # / person (This is 1 cup per day. Old lists said 75#/person.)

d. Sugar - 60 # / person (sugar, honey, corn syrup, jam, jello)

e. Salt - 5# / person (more if you want to cure meat.)

f. Fat or oil – 20 # / person

g. Water – 2 week supply of 14 gallons / person. More for animals/extra storage if room.

h. Other items to include: garden seeds, bedding, clothing, medical, fuel, light, wheat grinder, baby supplies.

6. Expanded storage. This type of storage would include foods and other daily essentials to supply total nutritional needs and allow for variety and personal preferences. Items to include would be: a. Basic Food storage items (grains, beans, dry milk, sugar, salt, oil)

b. Meat (tuna, cheese, peanut butter, smoked or dried meat, frozen meat) - 60#/person

c. Canned fruits and vegetables (home canned, store bought, juices, dried and frozen produce) - 365#/person

d. Baking items (baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, yeast, powdered eggs, vanilla)

e. Other misc. (soups, spices, ketchup, mustard, pickles, vinegar, other)

f. Vitamins and medication (cold and flu remedies, pain reliever, first aid supplies)

g. Non-food items (toilet paper, foil, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, garbage bags, cleaning and sewing supplies, matches, manual can opener, tools)

h. Canning supplies – bottles, lids, rings, canner, etc. (Needed if frozen foods needed to be preserved.)

i. Fuel (candles, flashlights and batteries, wind up or solar flashlights, gas cans for a generator kept full, propane tanks full for use in a BBQ, wood for a stove, or outside cooking if necessary, etc.)

j. Clothing: material/notions to sew, extras to grow into, a hand-me-down box, etc.

k. Garden seeds: as you plant this year’s seeds, buy for next year so if seeds are unavailable you can still plant.

l. For help in amounts to store, try using an online food storage calculator: https://ezprepping.com/food-storage-calculator/#food-storage-calculator Fill in the number of people and it generates a list!