It's National Preparedness Month, so we decided to ask the Central Valley Staff some questions to help you, our wonderful readers, get to know us better. Throughout September, you will get to meet our team and see The Not So Serious Side of Preparedness.
"What Can't You Do With A Cast Iron Skillet?"
Ellen Knapp, Regional Chief Executive Officer
Dana Regier, Director of Operations
How long have you been with the Red Cross?
Ellen: 7 years
Dana: 6 years, Ellen talked me into joining her!
What's your most feared natural or man-made disaster?
Ellen: I would have to say house fires, I've seen everything else happen but house fires scare me the most.
Dana: A plague of biblical proportions - especially if it involves something creepy and crawly.
What's the strangest or most important thing in your emergency preparedness kit?
Ellen: I know it may sound mushy but in my kit is a couple of discs with all my children's pictures on it. Also, I would need my pillow, I couldn't survive without my soft and crunchy pillow! For my husband, he would definitely need his coffee, so I guess some Starbucks ground coffee and a coffee press, since odds are there would be no power.
Dana: My husband’s cast iron skillet for sure… he can’t live without it and we can use it to cook with and if needed for protection against those creepy crawly things I am terrified of. Also, you could use it to heat your coffee, Ellen! I would also include a radio, I am a news junkie and so not being able to have contact with the outside world would probably drive me crazy.
What should individuals do to prepare this September?
Ellen: What we saw and experienced from Hurricane Katrina was many individuals who had no proof of identification nor copies of their important papers. I think this September everyone should make a commitment to scan all of their important documents and place them on a flash drive that goes right in your emergency kit. Also, I think it is also very important that you make a donation to your local Red Cross Chapter so that we can continue to prepare other individuals for disaster.
Dana: When I think of disaster the movie Red Dawn (1984 original not the remake that may never be released) comes to mind, not because my high school is being invaded by some foreign military but because when I think of disaster I think of bands of people having to fend for themselves just like the band of students in Red Dawn. Will we ever be able to come together to create a new community after the invasion of the creepy crawly things. We have to band together, come up with a name (like the Wolverines in the movie) and take down the awful pests so they don’t destroy our world. In the end we are just ordinary heroes… I’ll use the cast iron skillet to save the day (by the way Alex you can use my skillet against the Zombies)
