Friday, March 27, 2009

Vital Records Binder (We all need one of these:)!!


The 'Emergency Preparedness Coordinator' in my ward(CHURCH) is absolutely AMAZING. Every week she comes to church with a new recipe to hand out that you can make from items in your food storage. NOT only does she bring a copy of the recipe for EVERYONE, she makes it and brings it for everyone to try. Like I said, she is AMAZING!! A few years ago I had the opportunity to work with her in Activity Days (a fun group for girls ages 8-11), I have never met someone so dedicated to MAGNIFYING her calling. ('Callings' in our church are various jobs that we do on a volunteer basis, we are not paid to do these jobs- including our Bishops, Stake Presidents, etc... we do these to help do our part to make the church run smoothly and through our service we grow closer to our Savior).

A few weeks ago Sister McDavitt (the emergency preparedness coordinator) started a 'Vital Records Binder' challenge. Each week she sends out a reminder of what we are to be putting in our binder. I wanted to share this because I think it is such a good idea and it is something we would all need in an emergency. I have purchased my binders and will hopefully be getting all caught up on each of the weeks goals today. I decided to do 2 binders, one for our family, and one to give to my sister & Brother-in-law that will be responsible for caring for our kids in the event something were to happen to both my husband and I.

*If you have any other ideas of things that could be put in the binder please share those with us!

(I copied this information from an email that she sent out, we haven't completed this project yet, so remember to check back next week to see what you should be adding to your binder next)

If you had to suddenly leave your home due to impending natural disaster, and had only a few minutes to gather everything you would need, including important papers, family history, and treasured pictures, how long would it take you?
Vital financial records should be kept in a safe place. Copies of these documents should be available for taking with you if you have to leave your home in an emergency. As an alternative, you could scan these documents into your computer and take a disc or flash drive instead of paper copies. This year, we are going to assemble a Vital Records Binder that will contain the important information you would need and want to take with you. We will do it week by week through a small task each week—“…by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”

*WEEK ONE- Locate or purchase a 2” binder with 50 - 100 plastic page protectors. Purchase tabbed dividers, if desired, to divide the book into sections. Store the Ward Emergency Plan in the binder. (Note: we will be distributing the 2009 plan soon. For now, put in the 2007 plan if you have a copy)

*WEEK TWO- Locate birth certificates for all family members. Make copies and put in binder.

*WEEK THREE- Locate Social Security cards for all family members. Make copies and put in binder.

*WEEK FOUR- Make copies of driver’s licenses and put in binder

*WEEK FIVE- Make copies of passports and put in binder.

*WEEK SIX- Make copies of important phone numbers and addresses and put in binder. Include family, friends, doctors, dentist, business and other important numbers.

Recently my husband and I have felt very strongly that it is time we take getting our families year supply of food storage very seriously. We have been building up our food storage over the years, but as you rotate food out it is sometimes hard to remember to replace it. I would say that we have about 2-3 months worth of food storage right now. Our goal is to have our entire years supply of food storage by December 31st, 2009. I can only imagine the peace of mind that will come from KNOWING that no matter what may happen we can feed our family for an entire year. With all that is going on in the world you just never know when disaster might strike. I am looking forward to fulfilling the council from our Prophets to 'prepare every needful thing'.

Love,

Brittany


Family Home Storage

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.
"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.
"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, Feb. 2007, 1


Visit www.providentliving.org to find out more information about Family Preparedness, also if you would like to learn more about our faith, you can visit, www.mormon.org (The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints 'Mormons')

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