Farmington West Provident Living

 Your family may include infants, small children or elderly members.  Evaluate your current food storage and emergency supplies to assure that included are the items pertinent to the needs of those family members.  Make a plan to update or add necessary items. Also consider extended family, that if they experience an emergency in their area, are you equipped to take them in for temporary shelter?

The Be Ready Utah Expo will be held on February 25 and 26.  Workshops include: Water Storage, Food Storage, Preparing for Power Outages, Pet Preparedness, Survival Gardening, Emergency Kits on a Budget, Sanitation in a Disaster, Earthquake Preparedness, Stop the Bleed, and more.  Learn more at: https://beready.utah.gov/be-ready-utah-expo/ Also, for our Seed Starters!

  New Year - New Goals... or same old ones actually. Let's start the new year out with a renewed commitment to organizing a plan to start, add to, rotate, organize our food storage, emergency supplies and learn more about how to live more providently. For January - some goals may be... Purchase an extra of each item from the monthly shopping list and add to or rotate it into your food storage. Review with your household the types of emergencies we might face in our area. Discuss what your family has done and is doing to survive an emergency. Discuss whom to call for help. Have or create an emergency phone list. Establish an evacuation plan with your family. Practice a mock emergency for Family Home Evening.

  Now I know not everyone is a fan of snow and cold temperatures, but we really need the precipitation, so tis a welcome sight!  Hopefully we were all PREPARED with warm clothing, snow shovels, extra blankets and some yummy food to hunker down with if things got crazy.  There is still hope we will get more in the coming months. So, if you weren't ready for this one.... PLAN AHEAD for the next one. Check out the December newsletter to read about ways to prepare your home & family for the upcoming colder months and some great gift ideas to help your family members live more providently. The wilder the storm the higher the chance of losing power.  Here is a link to more information about Emergency Power.  i.e. Generators, heaters etc.

  All items currently in stock at the Home Storage Center!   See the Home Storage Center Tab for a list of items and prices.  These items make great gifts for your family members!  Most items can be purchased as individual items or by the case.  So, you can mix and match if you don't need 6 large cans of one item.  Build your storage slowly and surely!

The LITTLE things... not just the babies of the family (and they need a LOT of supplies, so plan accordingly).  But, the FURRY, FINNED and FEATHERED (and scaly etc.) members of your household.  Consider tucking away a portable bowl set for food and water and a container of extra food for your pet's particular needs.  Don't forget a carrier in the event of evacuation vs. stuck at home and cannot get to the store (or the stores are closed due to whatever reason). Also, sanitary supplies for their needs. More LITTLE things that could make a BIG difference... Medications.   If you have a complete first aid kit, it should include some basic OTC (over the counter) medications such as cold remedies and pain killers, Pepto etc.  However, most all of us have some sort of daily prescription medication that is necessary for our health and well-being.  Plan to put away, in your preparedness storage (away from children) 3-7 days worth of medications for each person...

In an emergency do you have a way to heat your house/tent? Power to keep essentials running in case of power failure? Loss of power can happen at any time. A severe thunderstorm can cause enough damage to knock power out for days. Having a reliable source of power will ensure you have access to emergency radio announcements, adequate lighting, heat, and communication during outages. Having access to a power source during times of serious emergencies will make a big difference in your ability to endure. You will also need different types of fuels to run some of these power sources.  See this page on HEAT . How about lighting? Start by evaluating exactly what your lighting needs are. Think about the various ways that you may need light as you complete your daily tasks. Each light is intended to serve a unique purpose. For instance: a headlamp provides great hands-free light, but a lantern would work better to provide area lighting around a table. The soft glow of the fireplace may be...

 I feel like SCAR from the Lion King... shouting a command to three goofy hyenas.  Although I am not insinuating any of you are hyenas, I feel like I'm shouting BE PREPARED from the rooftops, in actuality, I am "preaching to the choir".   My idea of preparedness is to not have a need to go to the store on Sunday morning for Sunday evening dinner.    There are so many great examples of preparedness in our Stake family! A few things to think about this month regarding preparedness:   Consider the fires to the west of our Stake.  Many members of our Stake were affected.  Some with evacuation or threat of evacuation.  Some with fear of property loss or difficulties in evacuation due to events of the days prior.  Remember the earthquake in 2020?  Did you have family members affected that may have needed to come to you?  Are you ready to receive?  Just some thoughts.  Preparedness works both ways. Power outage....