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Home, Family & Personal Enrichment Activities
"If Ye Are Prepared... Ye Shall Not Fear"
Purpose of this
year-long theme was helping families to get prepared...... temporally and spiritually. All activities for the year was for this purpose. The "Preparedness" binders were given to each woman in January and preparedness information was added to the binder each month the woman attended Home, Family & Personal Enrichment Meetings.
January - Preparedness Theme Kick-Off. Relief Society President explained the "Preparedness" program that we would be using as our theme for the year. Officer from the Police Department came and informed us on what is going on in our own community and how we can protect our homes and families. The Preparedness Binders were distributed to each woman in attendance and hand-outs were added to the binders with quotes from Pres. Hinckley on what is expected of Fathers, Mothers and Youth (Oct. 2000 General Conference). Also, information on abuse (Preventing & Responding to Spouse & Child Abuse) was added to binder, along with neighborhood watch information. The primary children were fingerprinted and pictures taken at primary prior to HFPE...these were handed out at our HFPE meeting and mothers completed the Fingerprint/ID card and medical history of each child. Evening ended with a chili cook-off with different kinds of chili to taste..with recipes...and information on cooking beans from food storage to be added to the Preparedness Binder. February - Two detectives from the police department were asked to come and instruct the sisters in a self defense program for women. The Young Women (YW) were invited and all were instructed on how to keep themselves safe and then what to do if they are in an uncomfortable or dangerous situation.....how to defend themselves. The men came with protective gear and the women and YW were taught kicks, screams, etc. at the expense of the men. Copies of 1) Emergency Check List (for home, car & work), 2) Emergency Preparedness: Create an Emergency Plan w/family, Prepare disaster supplies kit, Escape Plan, How to prepare an emergency car kit and Fire Safety were handed out to be put in Preparedness Binders. Note: Right after this evening, a young girl was abducted from a local mall. At our Enrichment Meeting, the officers had informed us about watching out for anyone coming up to you and saying that you have a flat tire. As you go around the car to see, they attack, taking your purse, car and even you. This is exactly what had happened to this young girl. If it had been one of our girls, they would have been prepared and would have taken appropriate action...which the officers had explained to them March - Stake Womens Conference - No Enrichment Mtg. April - This evening was dedicated to Family Home Evenings (FHE) and preparing our families through our FHE's. The Relief Society room was set up like a family room with couches and cushions. We started the meeting like a FHE. Family Preparedness Hunt was explained. (Family goes over emergency check list and makes escape/evacuation plans.) We then had a sister show us how to make homemade pizzas. While they were cooking, we were instructed on family and children comfort kits (a kit in your 72 hour kit or home storage that has items in it that would be of comfort to a child or family during an emergency). The comfort kit info was added to their Preparedness Binders along with the handout "Helping Children Cope with Disaster". May - This Enrichment was dedicated to First Aid. We had a "Mock Disaster". We first started the meeting in the Relief Society room with a quick 10 min. Lesson on filling our spiritual lamps. After the lesson, an emergency siren was sounded. We had asked a police officer in our ward to come in his patrol car and at this particular moment he was instructed to sound his siren. As the siren was going right outside, one of the Young Men (YM) leaders came running into the room and said that there had been a train wreck and the sisters were needed in the gym. We had recruited our YM and YW to help us this evening. We had them brought in on stretchers....bleeding (pretend of course), passed out, head wounds, broken bones....etc. We had four people from the Red Cross come in and help in different areas so the sisters had a "hands-on" experience this evening. They taught us what to bandage, what to brace and what to leave alone. Also, how to recognize shock and basic CPR. We had handouts of basic First-Aid info, bandaging info & treating dehydration for binders. After this activity, the last half hour was dedicated in showing a 72 hour kit, handout info for that kit and then we assembled 72 hour food kits to go in their own 72 hour kits. Refreshments: Train-Wreck Sundaes were served with plazma (strawberry) topping. June - We have a summer kick-off every year. This year we cooked our meal with Dutch Ovens and demonstrated how to season the ovens and how to cook with them. Our advertising went like this: Did you know that Dutch oven cooking can be done all year long, is economical & can be used as a cooking alternative in the case of emergency? How long will briquettes store? What's an Egg Carton Fire Starter? And did you know that a Buddy Burner has nothing to do with your Visiting Teaching Partner and fire? Many Dutch Oven recipes were handed out to be put in the Preparedness Binders along with the Buddy Burner and Egg Carton Firestarters Instructions. July - We had a food storage specialist from our stake come and instruct on food storage and rotation of our supplies. The booklet "Essentials of Home Storage" (purchased from the Church distribution website) was handed out and also food storage recipes were added to binders. We served samples of recipes using powdered milk. August - Class was given outside so that the sisters could see the demo on Apple Box Ovens. Apple pies were made and we had 10 Apple Box Ovens set up to cook them so that the sisters could see how they worked. We demonstrated how to make the oven and then how to set it up for baking. As the pies were baking, we had a woman give a class on different kinds of fuels for cooking, where fuels should be stored and how much (legally) can be stored of certain fuels. Then we had another woman instruct about water....where to find it, how to store it & how to purify. All the information was on handouts to be added to each Preparedness Binder. The apple pies were used as our refreshment with ice cream. September - Humanitarian Enrichment Night - Talked about being spiritually prepared by doing service for others. We tied two large quilts and put together school kits for the Church Humanitarian Center. October - Super Day......This is our traditional holiday craft day. It was interesting this year that the women asked to do Apple-box ovens and Preparedness Binders to give as gifts. We also had a woman in the ward that was willing to help us with some ceramics of Christ. At this meeting, we also brought extra copies of the prior meetings handouts for women who had not received them. November - Two days before our Enrichment night, it was reported that several Tornados had effected parts of our country. The Relief Society Presidency was inspired to call the Humanitarian Center to see how we could help. We immediately called our HFPE Committee and explained the situation. Knowing how much work goes into planning HFPE meetings, it was very testimonial to see this committee change their plans and put together (in 1 day) everything needed to put together many hygiene kits. Their notice that was put on every door knob in our ward was:
URGENT NOTICE
"It is the duty of the Relief Society Sisters to seek out and relieve the distressed." Emma Smith
December - Special Christmas Dinner (using the men in our ward as our waiters and dish cleaners). We had a special guest speaker who spoke on preparing ourselves to meet Christ as Women of God.
We made a fabric ball and filled it with wheat with a note as follows:
This concluded our year-long theme of Preparedness. We continue to work on this issue and add information to our Preparedness Binder. |
