72 Hour Kit Class

The Natural Family Blog ^ | August 7, 2006 | Jenny Hatch

[Jenny Hatch]

Yesterday at church I was blessed to spend some time with the men of our ward as I taught the High Priest Class. This class is made up of men in our church who are in general the eldest members of our congregation. Since the Elders Quorum was also interested in learning about 72 hour kits, they younger men age 19 and above were also invited to attend the class.

The high priests group leader had asked me to teach a class on 72 hour kits a couple weeks ago and I thought I would share a couple of photos as well as some of the materials I used in the class.

Here are some pictures:

Getting ready for the class

[Jenny Hatch]

Yesterday at church I was blessed to spend some time with the men of our ward as I taught the High Priest Class. This class is made up of men in our church who are in general the eldest members of our congregation. Since the Elders Quorum was also interested in learning about 72 hour kits, they younger men age 19 and above were also invited to attend the class.

The high priests group leader had asked me to teach a class on 72 hour kits a couple weeks ago and I thought I would share a couple of photos as well as some of the materials I used in the class.

Here are some pictures:

Getting ready for the class

During the class I discussed the importance of keeping the Kit simple, with a focus on the basics which are in order or importance: Proper hydration with at least a gallon of water for each person, warmth with adequate clothing (I brought a large snow suit purchased at Wal Mart for the men to see what our family used for warmth. The beauty of these suits is that they can be used to layer over coats and other clothing, and even used to sleep in for an added layer of protection from the elements - which are an issue for us here in Colorado), and finally Food, which as I explained to them for adults is more about comfort and quick energy than it is about nutrition.

I spent quite a bit of time talking about psychological preparations. And since many of the men in the class are fathers and grandfathers I talked about psychological foods for children, like candy and suckers, which under emergency situations could be the difference between a child being scared and overwhelmed and happily enjoying a sweet treat. Children often mimick the behavior and attitudes of the adults around them in an emergency, and so to help the children feel safe and comfortable, I talked about how important it is for the adults to be in a position to serve and help rather than freaking out themselves. I saw a few heads nodding as I said that.

I also challenged everyone to put in a small supply of plastic diapers, wipes, baby formula, pacifiers, and bottles, so that should they come in contact with an unprepared mother in a shelter situation they could share, to keep babies hydrated and fed....and Momma from feeling the overwhelm that all mothers feel when babies are screaming and no food is in sight.

Visual Aids for the class. During the class I talked about the sorts of foods that we have purchased, which I detailed in this blog entry. I also challenged them to invest in high quality water bottles with a shoulder strap.

Class Materials - one food pack as well as some flyers

Here is a copy of the flyer for the classes I teach on Provident Living four times a year in our home. I have taught this class for twelve years and the feed back from the various people who have attended has been very positive in terms of motivation to get more into whole foods cooking, as well as preparing for emergencies and long term food storage. I have been Dry Pack Certified at our Cannery and have taken several groups down to the cannery in order to dry pack food in number 10 cans. It has been really fun to meet the various people who have attended these classes and sessions at the cannery over the years. My next class will be on September 9th at 8:30 AM here in my home in Boulder County, and it is free and open to the public. And I will be taking a group down to the cannery for dry pack the next saturday at 8:00 AM.

Here is the text from the flyer about the Provident Living Classes taught in our home:

2006 Provident Living Classes! Saturday Family Canning Sessions!

This series will be duplicated four times – once each quarter – Dates for 2006 Provident Living Classes: Jan 14th, April 8th, Sept 9th, Nov 11th - 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM All Classes will be taught at the Hatch home Dry Pack Family Canning: Jan 21st, April 15th, Sept 16th, Nov 18 - 8AM to Noon All Canning will take place at the Aurora Cannery 3233 Fraser St. Aurora Co. 80011 - 303-371-7650

Topics covered in the Provident Living Class – Class Title - All about wheat How to cook a 25 cent Loaf of Bread, Make a ten cent muffin and feed your family breakfast for pennies a day! 72 hour kits and safe water storage Rotating and using Cannery foods in day to day cooking to increase health and save money! Sprouting, beans, food allergies to grains, and how to make foods taste great – all will be covered in this comprehensive class!

One-Month Food Storage Kits

To help families with their food storage, home storage centers are now offering guidelines for assembling a one-month food storage kit. The kit contains enough food for one adult for one month. The focus of the Canning sessions will be on producing one month kits.

These kits contain foods like Whole Wheat, Pinto Beans, Powdered Milk, and Salt.

The church I belong to has started to offer one month kits at the various cannery locations around the country. LDS members and their friends of other faiths are welcome to come to the cannery to put together these kits which are extremely inexpensive and contain enough food to feed one person for one month.

Essentials of Home Production and Storage Manual (Scroll down to the link a little bit and the manual will be on your right in PDF format)

During the class I focused on sharing the basics of what to store and finished by telling the men that I believed the most important thing they could do was to go home from church and get a laundry basket and simply start filling it with some food, water, and clothing to get them started.

Most people, if they will take that first step, are then able to move ahead and then make the specific preparations for their individual family, which may include preparations for pregnant and nursing mothers, individuals who are on medications or have special needs, and the elderly.

I ended the class with the challenge that if these good men, husbands, and fathers would humbly go to the Lord and ask him what specific preprations they should make for their own families that he would guide them and help them to know what to do.

We don't know what is coming in the future, but the Lord does, and he can help us prepare so that if some sort of an emergency happens, we will be in a better position to serve our families and communities effectively.

I shared with the class my views on Last Days Birthing, as well as my belief that we should all move towards Medical Self Sufficiency.

The response to my presentation from the group was intelligent, thoughtful questions and I hope they were all motivated to do something to get prepared this week.

Our Relief Society is also planning on doing an enrichment activity on 72 hour kits this month and the woman organizing that activity has asked me to help her plan it. I'll share some photos after we do that class.

Jenny Hatch