“I prep, actually, for my neighborhood. I know a lot of people that are not prepping and sometimes, because they can’t afford it and so I buy extra food so that when the food runs low or out, I can serve food to my neighbors and be a blessing to them and show them God’s love.”
I have been prepping for years. The first thing that I found that has helped me is, over the last few years, buying a little bit more food at a time at a much lower price than it is now. I prep, actually, for my neighborhood. I know a lot of people that are not prepping and sometimes, because they can’t afford it and so I buy extra food so that when the food runs low or out, I can serve food to my neighbors and be a blessing to them and show them God’s love.
I’ve been teaching survival skills and self-defense to teenagers for years. We go on camping trips six or seven times a year. One thing that we do is even have prepping in our camping van. There is one of 
everything in there that we might need, and I found that almost every trip, we forgot to bring something–sometimes a key ingredient for what we need to do. However, because we already have backup stuff, it doesn’t hinder us at all. Other times the kids are brought out into the woods with only knife matches and water, and they have to survive for 3 days. It brings them to a place of self-sufficiency and great confidence that they’re going to be okay.
We also respond to emergencies in our community and feed people and support agencies like the fire department when they’re out on the line for days. This teaches the kids to be generous and kind.
I’ve also found that from time to time, our family gets sick all at the same time. And nobody wants to go to the store because we’re not feeling that well. All I have to do is go over to my prep room and get whatever we need. Whether it’s dry goods or canned goods, even toilet paper, and paper towels. It all comes in handy and gives us a sense of security and peace. It also helps us to avoid getting out in public and making others sick, which is very important to us.
Dr. Bass
-Edited for content and length. Names changed to protect identities.
We often think prepping is a solitary activity. After all, the more we try to involve people, the more frustrated we sometimes get that others don’t appreciate our sense of urgency. Prepping is always stronger when we involve our community, family, friends, and future generations. If history teaches us anything, it is that disasters strike everyone eventually.
Consider your community when you prep. What will you do if people come knocking on your door? Here’s a video we did about that very subject:
Should we help others after SHTF?