January, the month of “renewal” and “resolutions”, is the perfect time to launch your Resolve to be Ready 2015 campaign. If you haven’t a clue as to what this is all about, because you are visiting my blog for the first time, let me first say “welcome” and give you a quick introduction to this monthly series:
In October 2007, we lost our home in the California wildfire known as the Witch Fire. We were not prepared, at all, but were very lucky in many ways and moved into our new home in December 2008, just 13 months after the fire. I have written a 20-part series about the loss of our home and the rebuild and you can read it starting here: Any Way the Wind Blows.
So, after experiencing a catastrophic loss, I decided that I needed to be better prepared just on the off-chance that lightning strikes twice! I launched the Resolve to be Ready 2014 campaign last year, using FEMA’s Resolve to Be Ready title as the title of this ongoing series. If you missed any of last year’s posts and want to “catch-up”, here are a few links:
- Emergency Food Supply: are you Ready?
- Fly-away Kit: are you Ready?
- Family Emergency Kit: are you Ready?
While I’ve used the “Resolve to be Ready” tag line borrowed from the Ready.gov site to organize this series, this series does not follow their current campaign. For example, this year (2015), Ready.gov’s campaign is called 2015 National Seasonal Preparedness and you can check out their monthly calendar via the link.
But, because I like the title “Resolve to be Ready”, I’m staying the course with what I’ve started and moving forward. So, 2015’s posts will follow the pattern I established in 2014.
In each post, I discuss a certain aspect of emergency planning and provide resource links, suggestions on how to move forward, FREE printables and a checklist updated monthly to keep your emergency planning and preparedness on track. Here’s a link to the most current printable checklist to get you started: Resolve to Be Ready Project Checklist updated 11-19-2014.
Print this list, place it in a 3-ring binder that you’ve designated your Family Emergency Planning and Resources Binder and use it to get started.
Want to print the above photo and use it for your binder cover? Don’t worry; I’ve got you covered {no pun intended; well, maybe it is intended!}. Here’s a link to a FREE printable PDF: Family Emergency Planning and Resources Binder Cover PDF. All the emergency planning checklists I’ve created are FREE, so please check out my earlier posts.
And, if you are just getting started on your emergency planning and preparedness project and my most current planning checklist is so overwhelming that you just can’t wrap your head around tackling all these projects, don’t fret, don’t stress, don’t worry! Take a deep breath and start at the beginning with the first post in 2014, Resolve to be Ready 2014.
Print that checklist instead. Then once you complete the tasks on that checklist, read the next post and follow along, etc. until you get caught up!
Trust me – this isn’t a project that you can tackle overnight! I’ve been at it since October 2012, so more than two years now!
Why haven’t I finished my emergency planning and preparedness project sooner? Well, because, it’s a giant project. So enormous that it’s impossible to finish quickly.
And, once you have finished it, you’ll need to revisit parts of it frequently (such as using, rotating and restocking your emergency food supply) to update your efforts.
So, I ask you:
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Please join me every month as we tackle each part of an emergency planning and preparedness project – one bite at a time!
P.S. If you are a regular reader of this series, use this month to catch-up on any previous projects left unfinished!
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts about emergency planning and preparedness)
This is such a helpful and needed series! Thank you! Thanks so much for linking up to Awesome Life Friday! We’ll be pinning this – we’re looking forward to seeing what you have to share this week!
Thanks, Lynda. I’m a little passionate about this series (maybe over-zealous?) and I appreciate when anybody drops by to read it!
Thank you for sharing your tragic story of losing your home to a fire. We were victims of a flood in middle Ga. in 1994 known as the Flood of ’94. I do what it feels like to have to start over and how long that process takes. This is a fabulous series you are running.
So glad you shared with us at Merry Monday. Please be sure to come back Monday for the new party!
So sorry to hear of your loss in 1994! It’s amazing to me how many people have been subject to weather-related catastrophic losses. If I help even one person on their road to recovery, by supplying tips and information, I feel that it’s been worth it. Thank you for the compliment and yes, I’ll be back to join the party next Monday!