Professional Speaker, Emergency Preparedness

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In This Issue:

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Hope
Health "Emergency Preparedness"
Humor

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Welcome to my September 2005 issue of “Hope, Health & Humor”

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Hope:

This past summer I was blessed to be able to go to Memphis, Tennessee. I went there to provide a diversity training workshop, for a railroad company, BNSF. This was a wonderful event because the people in my training group were all there because they wanted to be. They were volunteers.

This was not an employer mandated program with people stuck in seats for four hours, who would have rather been somewhere else. This group came hungry to learn. How lucky was I, to have an audience like that?

I asked around the room what it meant for them to be a part of their company’s diversity council. I received many responses but one answer struck me. A man said he wanted “to be of service” to his community.

I was reminded of the saying “Service is the rent we pay, for the space we take up on earth.” Wow. Those are powerful words. That saying suggest that volunteering is not an option but something that is “owed” from each of us, to the rest of humanity.

I am not saying in any way that I exemplify this trait. I have a lot to learn in the area of public service and still a lot more to give, until I have paid my dues. However, I do value the concept of doing something that is greater than one self.

My heartfelt thanks and prayers go out to all the wonderful individuals, who have made time in their lives to give. I am especially proud of the people who have risked their lives to help the recent hurricane victims.

It is my “Hope” that we can rise above this challenging time, to create a better and safer world for our future.

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Health:

A mentor and friend of mine, Mark Victor Hansen, is famous for a quote that says “The best thing you can do for the poor, is not be one of them.” Some people laugh when they hear this and others get upset, because they don’t understand the message he is trying to convey.

Basically, you can’t help anyone else until your needs are taken care of first. When you have your self together, there is one less person in need and now you are in the position to give and to help others.

Recently, I met Marty Evans. She is the current President of the American Red Cross. Marty emphasized the same message. Have a plan and be prepared for disaster, then when disaster strikes, the Red Cross can do their job and handle the things that no one can prepare for.

September is National Preparedness month. In the wake of the recent hurricane, I think more and more people have opened their eyes, to the fact that a natural disaster can strike anyone.

This message is not intended to create fear. It is to remind us that we do have certain things in our power. We can create a plan and prepare for our families well being, if a disaster were to strike.

On the website for the Red Cross http://www.redcross.org you can shop for First Aid Kits and survival backpacks. They have a Deluxe Emergency Preparedness Kit for $69.00.

If you cannot afford to buy the kit, you can put one together yourself. I went and purchased four back packs, on clearance for $5.99. I will be filling them up with the items listed on the Red Cross site. Most of the items can be purchased at your local dollar or 99 cents store. Some of the items they recommend are:

Battery Powered Flashlight and extra batteries

Battery Powered Radios

Emergency Blanket

Food Bars (4800 calories)

Work Gloves

Light Sticks

Moist Towelettes/Baby Wipes

Breathing Mask

Plastic Sheeting

Rain Poncho

First Aid Kit

Duct Tape

Water (2 quarts)

Whistle

After you are stocked with supplies, draft a family plan, which may include several plans, depending on the type of emergency. There is lots of information available on the Red Cross website to help you do this.

Also, donate blood if you are able. Donating blood is the gift that keeps giving.

It is my hope that you and your family will never be in a disaster or need to make use of your emergency plan. However, as the old saying goes “An ounce of prevention is worth…….”

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Humor:

I hate self-service gas stations so much. I was all dressed up once going to a formal affair, so I was standing there in the middle of the night, in an evening gown, pumping gas. I looked like the gas fairy.

-Rita Rudner

My gas station had a sign that read PLEASE PAY WITH YOUR SMALLEST BILL. So I gave them the white dollar bill from my Monopoly set. The cops caught up with me a couple of blocks later, but I was in luck, I also had the “Get out of jail Free” card.

-Kate Zannoni

My car has this feature that I guess is standard because it was on my last car too. It has a rotating gas tank. Whatever side of the pump I pull up to, it’s on the other side.

-Rita Rudner