MOU - The American Red Cross and the LDS Church

Partner Opportunities Bulletin from the American Red Cross

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the American Red Cross

Background
On March 27, 2012 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Church”) and the American Red Cross (the “Red Cross”). The MOU provides a broad framework for cooperation and engagement between the two organizations with respect to (among other activities): supporting each other’s efforts to create prepared communities; actively participating in disaster planning such as training, drills, and identifying shelter locations; encouraging volunteer participation; and supporting Blood Services in efforts to collect blood. The purpose of the MOU is to facilitate the desire of both the Red Cross and the Church to expand their mutually beneficial relationship to enhance community disaster preparedness, to coordinate disaster planning and response activities, and to ensure a safe and ample blood supply.

Organization Information
Since its founding, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has cared for the needy, including people affected by disaster. It encourages its members to be actively engaged in community causes, such as those promoted by the Red Cross. Church members are encouraged to live providently, as well as to prepare for emergencies.
Founded in 1881, the American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Red Cross provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. The Red Cross provides services to those in need regardless of citizenship, race, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status or political affiliation.
Benefits of Collaboration

• Standardized facilities forms for shelters and blood drives included as attachments to the MOU.
• Church facilities can be used as Red Cross Shelters
• The MOU provides in Annex D a Shelter Agreement that describes the allocation and responsibility for joint expenses, cost reimbursed expenses or any other mutually agreed upon reimbursable process.
• Facilities may also be suitable used for warehousing or other collaborative disaster related activities.
• The Church recognizes the right of legitimate licensed organizations to collect blood.
• Localities where the Red Cross operates a blood center or regularly collects blood, the Church will encourage stake presidents (local leaders) to provide opportunities for regular blood drives within their jurisdictions, at their discretion, even if other blood donor organizations are used as well.
• It will no longer be necessary for the Red Cross to obtain written approval for individual blood drives.

For more information, please refer to the MOU, Attachment A – Organization Contact Information.

SLC Community Preparedness Workshop

4th Quarter 2012 Community Preparedness Workshop

Saturday, November 10, 2012,
8:00 am – 11:30 am
Pioneer Police Precinct
1040 West 700 South

Dear Salt Lake City Community Members,

The 4th Quarter 2012 Community Preparedness Workshop (formerly Community Emergency Response Coordination Workshop) has been scheduled. Please join us at the workshop on Saturday, November 10, 2012. Continental breakfast will be offered at 8:00 am. Welcome and opening address will begin at 8:30. This workshop will include a presentation from JaLae Thompson, Emergency Services Manager, American Red Cross – Greater Salt Lake Area Chapter, about community involvement in the Salt Lake City Mass Care Strategy.

John Flynt, Community Preparedness Coordinator for the Salt Lake City Office of Emergency Management will brief workshop attendees on Salt Lake City government’s participation in the ShakeOut providing lessons learned, planning for the future, and projects that are being implemented as a result of the findings. The office of Emergency Management will also be bringing equipment to issue CERT member ID badges. If you wish to receive your ID please bring proof of CERT course completion. For those who have completed any NIMS ICS courses or who are hold current HAM licenses, proof will be required to add these certifications to your ID.

Though CERT Team and Mobile Watch members are strongly encouraged to attend, this workshop is for any individuals, families, civic, religious, or volunteer groups interested in community preparedness in Salt Lake City. It is vital that we coordinate in a unified effort among all groups and organizations to successfully prepare and protect our city.

We ask the community councils for assistance in finding and encouraging representatives in every neighborhood to participate in these efforts.  Didn’t attend the previous workshops? No problem. Please join us at this one! Pass this on to anyone you feel would have an interest in emergency response.

Please visit http://www.slccert.org/go/survey/3687/12331 as soon as possible to register to attend the work

Please click here for the AGENDA.

Battery Discount

For those in the Foothill area, we have an opportunity to purchase new Rayovac Ultrapro batteries sizes AA, AAA, C, D, and 9v at a discounted price.

Quantities are limited.

Please contact Paul Reyonlds at 801-583-3627 for more details.

Utah Food Bank

For over 100 years, the Utah Food Bank has stayed true to its mission of serving those in need throughout our state. We work tirelessly with community partners and volunteers to continue making an impact.


Mission Statement: 
Utah Food Bank Fights Hunger Statewide



Hunger in Utah

• 1 in 10 Utahns, and 1 in 8 Utah children, lives in poverty.
• An impoverished family of four makes about $22,000 a year to cover health care costs, shelter, food, and other household expenses.
• Utah is ranked fourth in the nation for the highest rate of very low food security in the nation. About 400,000 Utahns risk missing one meal every day.   
• More than 134,000 Utahns receive food stamps, and 63,000 eat dinner at a soup kitchen.
• 1 in 7 Utah children is at risk of hunger, and nearly 40 percent receive free or reduced school lunch.

Food Collection & Distribution

Utah Food Bank staff, volunteers and agencies work together to gather and distribute emergency food to individuals and families experiencing the pain of hunger in Utah. The organization started in 1904 and, since 1977, Utah Food Bank has been the central hub for food collection and distribution in Utah. Our resources include a large warehouse, four semi-tractors, and eight box trucks, as well as our valuable affiliation with Feeding America. With these resources, Utah Food Bank is able to collect, store and distribute large quantities of food for the entire state of Utah.

Food Collection

Utah Food Bank gathers food through a variety of means:

• Food Drives (9%): Utah Food Bank collects about 8% of its food items from community food drives, coordinated statewide with local agencies. More than three million pounds of food is collected from annual drives.
• Grocery Rescue (25%): Building partnerships with local grocers has allowed us to receive needed food items that are nearing expiration dates. This highly effective and fast-growing program increases access to perishable foods, including fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products. Last year, the Grocery Rescue program collected nearly 7.8 million pounds of food through 137 stores and 18 participating agencies.
• Local Commercial Donations (36%): Local commercial food distributors include growers, manufacturers and retailers. The donated food may consist of seasonal, surplus, discontinued items, or food in damaged containers.
• National Commercial (9%): As a member of Feeding America, Utah Food Bank has access to food items made available from national vendors, producers and other food banks in the United States. Pickups provide many food resources at the cost of shipping only.
• Government Commodities (20%): Utah Food Bank is a distributor of USDA commodities allotted for programs and agencies that provide emergency food assistance to Utah residents.
• Purchasing (1%): On occasion, the Utah Food Bank Services purchases needed food items for distribution. For example, during our annual turkey drive we supplement donated turkeys with a bulk turkey from community donations.

Food Distribution

Utah Food Bank distributes food through a variety of methods:

• Emergency Food Network: Food is sorted in the Utah Food Bank warehouse and then distributed throughout the state to more than 129 emergency food pantries, agencies, churches, senior centers and after-school programs. Find your local food pantry here.
• Senior Food Box Program: Through the Senior Food Box Program, Utah Food Bank volunteers deliver monthly supplemental food to low-income, homebound senior citizens who are unable to access the emergency food network. Currently, we deliver about 2,100 food boxes monthly. A food box contains up to a week's worth of non-perishable food, along with milk and produce when available.
• Kids Cafe: The Kids Cafe program provides free meals and snacks at 21 after-school programs. Sites include Boys & Girls Clubs, public schools, and community centers. Each weekday, Utah Food Bank's in-house chef prepares 1,300 meals for children who might not eat until the following morning.
• Mobile Pantry: The Mobile Food Pantry program distributes food such as fresh produce, dairy products, deli products, and non-perishables to 24 low-income neighborhoods throughout the state of Utah. Last year, over 763,000 pounds of food was distributed through the Mobile Food Pantry program.

Your Contribution Makes a Difference

Utah Food Bank can turn a $1 donation into $8 of food and services. This is made possible by wonderful volunteer support and generous food donations. To make a donation, click here.

Information posted from:  www.utahfoodbank.org

Proposed Museum To Teach Preparedness

A place to have "fun" with disasters and learn at the same time: that's the premise of a new kind of museum that's in the works for Utah, the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

"This would be like Universal Studios meets disaster readiness," said Darlene Turner, executive director of the Disaster Discovery Center project.

Whether it's with fires, floods, tornadoes or earthquakes, nature has lots of ways to ruin your whole day, or your life. The proposed museum would offer a way to experience such events, in perfect safety, through elaborate simulations and special effects.

The goal would be to teach visitors how to deal with a disaster and how to prepare in advance.

Click on the link below to view the whole article from KSL.com:

Proposed museum would teach 

preparedness through simulation

Wonderful Ways to Woo Your Wife with Wheat

Wheat has been used for millennia as a dependable staple, proving itself as a great food storage item. But did you know that you can use wheat to show your wife that you love her?

Now, we’re not just talking about using wheat to bake your wife a loaf bread or something. Instead, you can use wheat to keep her warm, pamper her or even keep the kids entertained while she relaxes.

Click the link below for the full article from TheReadyStore.com

Wonderful Ways to 

Woo Your Wife with Wheat

SL Tribune Article on Important Docs

Being ready to grab things in a hurry can prevent loss of irreplaceable items.

From torrential floods in Louisiana to blistering Western wildfires, this year’s weather-related calamities are a reminder that disaster can strike anyone, anytime, anywhere.

If a natural disaster hit your household, would you be ready? Everyone has important paperwork to safeguard: insurance policies, loan papers, marriage or divorce documents, even the vaccination records for children or pets.

Not to mention personal family photos, videos and music sitting on computers.

Knowing what to grab in case of a hurried evacuation could prevent the loss of irreplaceable family mementos, as well as documents that could be tedious and time-consuming to replace.

Click the link below to view the complete article posted on SLTrib.com.

In case of disaster, be sure key records, mementos are at hand

Square Foot Gardening for under $50

How to start your own square foot garden

Starting your own garden is a great way to be prepared for any situation.

You can start with less than $50. Square food gardening is the perfect introduction to growing a successful vegetable garden.

In a square-foot garden, plants thrive in raised boxes...




Follow the link below for the entire article from TheReadyStore.com.

How to start your own square foot garden