How would I better prepare for another Pandemic?

Lessons I’ve Learned From The Pandemic

The other day I went down to my food storage room to drop off some Nutella that I just bought in bulk and needed to store long-term. While I was down there, I started thinking about the world in 2020 and the current state of the economy in 2021.

In my own little bubble, I feel like I am better off now than I was in 2020, but that year had a way of shifting the overall mood, and sense of security for the whole world. 2020 didn’t just affect the United States. It put that same damper on many countries throughout the world. In fact, I still have friends in Peru and in India that are struggling more now in 2021 than the US ever did in 2020.

The COVID-19 Pandemic really put the world in a tailspin, but somehow, it seems that it was just the beginning of our problems. Even while people are still struggling with this virus, the world is facing other challenges that you might not even know about.

Why It’s Not About Fear But All About Being Aware

I don’t share this information to instigate fear. I share it to open your eyes to a world outside of your comfort bubble. I am self-aware enough to know that I live in this bubble as well. Even though it might be hard to see other people struggling, we need this understanding to help level-set our minds. It’s important for us to recognize how fortunate we are to not be going through these same struggles.

How Fragile And Broken Is Our Society Current Systems?

After going through the pandemic and experiencing a country-wide shutdown, seemingly overnight, it’s pretty easy to see how fragile our society and systems can crumble.

In my years of experience educating people about preparedness, I have always told them to be ready for the worst-case scenario. When I talked about how things could potentially change in the blink of an eye. Some people believed me, but others would often say stuff like “that would never happen in America.” or  “the government will take care of us if it gets to that.”. If you believe stuff like this, it’s time to get your head out of the sand and awaken to the reality of our new world.

Why You Should Prepare Yourself, Just In Case

Why not take the preparedness approach just in case? Think about it, if you are prepared for some other type of devastation, and the government comes in to help, that’s just gravy on top. But, what if someone is not there to save you?

Wouldn’t you rather be prepared to take care of yourself and your family just in case? Think about the look in your kid’s eyes when they are hungry and cold. Knowing you could have done something about it and didn’t… I promise you will just sit there and regret your actions. Take action now so you don’t have to live with that regret.

Even though the pandemic did open a lot of eyes, some people still refuse to believe that things could get worse than they were in 2020. I don’t know why this is a truth that so many struggles to grasp. If there is one thing we can learn from our own history, it’s that any number of things could devastate our country much worse than the Pandemic.

What Is The Solution? – Family Sharing Bucket

Because of the possibility of things getting worse at some point in the future, I’ve decided to analyze where I am at and what I could do better just in case something like the pandemic happens again.

One area where I know I need to improve is helping other people. Because of the lockdown and all of the fear the media was putting out there, most people were afraid to help their neighbors due to the risk of getting infected themselves. I was one of those people. Because of some medication, my wife was on at the time, her immune system was in a weakened state. The last thing I wanted to do was bring the Coronavirus home and put my wife’s life in danger.

After doing some research and talking with some of my preparedness buddies, I decided that creating a family-sharing bucket would be the best way to address this concern in the future. A family sharing bucket is a 5-gallon bucket full of food that can be given to any person or family that is in need of some additional calories.

You can have these buckets up by your door for when people come asking for food, or you can take them around to specific people that you know could use the help. Aside from having the buckets on hand to help those in need, I also wanted something I could use to easily disburse from my front door.

Very rarely do I allow people to visit my food storage room right now when things are calm. The last thing I would want is to let someone in my food storage room when things get tough. I would hate for someone with “authority” to try and dictate how I should use my food storage when that time comes. I’ve read too many post-apocalyptic books to know how that ends. LOL

What Should I Add To My Family Sharing Bucket?

I didn’t want to wait a long time to prepare these Family Sharing Buckets, so I just grabbed a few things I had in my food storage room already. I think it will do the trick but still plan to create a Family Sharing Bucket 2.0 with more calorie-dense items. Having more calories might not be as enjoyable, but they will keep you alive for a lot longer.

The items I decided to put in this bucket are easy to prepare and most people tend to enjoy eating them. I wanted to make sure I didn’t add any items that were hard to prepare.  Almost everything I’ve added to this bucket can be cooked with water and just a little bit of heat. I also decided to add some sweets to break up the monotony of so much plain food.

Items In My Family Sharing Bucket 1.0

Non-Food Items Used

Help Others However You Can

When we started our food storage journey over 10 years ago, we were very poor.  We were so far in debt and both working multiple jobs. We knew that we had to get started though, so we put together a budget that allowed us to pay off that debt and put a little towards food storage each month. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to motivate us to continue preparing month over month.

This is only my opinion, but I think that those who have been blessed enough with the foresight and the financial means to get food storage should be willing to help those around them, within reason. We might not be able to take care of everyone, but if we have the means to take care of our friends and family, we should do so. If we don’t come together as a people when the SHTF, we are going to have a hard time rebuilding. We need to get each other’s backs as much as we can when that time comes.

Take Care Of Your Family First

We do want to be cautious with the amount of food we are willing to give away. If it comes down to taking care of our families or someone else, we should choose our families first. We had the foresight to get prepared and for that, I think we should have the freedom to make that choice without feeling guilty.

I do not have enough food to feed my whole neighborhood, so I want to be cautious but still try to be a good citizen and a good neighbor. At least while the supplies last. For this reason, I do think it is important to prepare something like this family sharing bucket.

What Should I Put In My Family Sharing Bucket 2.0?

As I mentioned above, I plan to create a Family Sharing Bucket 2.0 that has more calorie-dense items. I am super interested to know what you would put in your bucket that’s different. What foods should I put in my next bucket that will be calorie-packed, but still easy for someone to prepare but would also give them the nutrients they need to survive and thrive?

One way or another, we are going to have hard times in the future. I’m not sure when that will happen, but I want to make sure I learn from my past mistakes and prepare better for my future. This Family Sharing bucket is only step one.

How else should I prepare to help others when tough times come again?