March Challenge #30 Giving Back

Today's challenge is to share some of the preparedness knowledge you have amassed.  Although some survivalists prefer to work in a vacuum, being a "lone wolf" so to speak, there are a number of reasons to share some of the preparedness knowledge you have acquired over the years.

By sharing some of your knowledge, whether by volunteering at the shooting range, becoming a Boy Scout leader, manning a booth at a HAM Fest, or volunteering with the Red Cross in your community, you will not only reinforce your own knowledge but you will build a better community in which to live.  There is often a huge gap of knowledge between the older generation (who knew how to do all kinds of things "the old fashioned way") and the younger generation (who are more often than not raised by single parents and may not have someone to teach them how to hunt and fish and do all kinds of other useful things).  There is also a large knowledge gap between urban and rural folks--one set who have a number of rural living skills and the other set who are more likely than not used to calling for help when they need to do, well, anything.

While some people would rather keep their knowledge to themselves, I, for one, find that the more people in the community that know how to do useful things (shoot safely and accurately, perform CPR, have their own stockpile of food and water for a disaster, can fix a car or plumb a house) the better the community is.  People who strive to be better and learn as much as possible are usually more responsible (it's good to have a lot of responsible people in your community).  These same people can share knowledge with you that you may not yet have, they can come to your aid in a disaster, and most importantly, they won't be totally dependent on others in the event of a disaster (a la the clusterf%*& that was Hurricane Katrina when a whole lot of people were not prepared and could do nothing to help themselves...social unrest follows and people die when this happens).  Perhaps most importantly, by working with people in a casual atmosphere, you will learn about them individually and know who you want on your survival team when TSHTF.

Your challenge today is to do something to help others be prepared for a disaster--from the simple and easy (like sharing information on reddit) to the long-term and in-depth (like volunteering for Search and Rescue or using your HAM skills to volunteer for RACES/ARES).