Fellow Patriots,
Wow, can you believe it? What a crazy year it has been. It was one year ago today that I posted my first article to Hope for Survival. It was titled "Bet you did not know" and I would hope when you read it you will say my message remains the same and my efforts bring the same energy and message. If I start slacking, remind me.
Never in a million years would I have imagined being here one year later trying to figure out how to say "thanks" in a way that would truly express my sincere appreciation to so many people. The amount of support this effort has demanded is beyond description. The gift of life and Ms. Lucy's willingness to gift me the freedom to journey down this trail is the key to being here today. The hours and hours of evening work to write, manage the website, and conduct phone conversations requires a time investment I could and would not do without Ms. Lucy's blessing and approval. Of course having Festus reading, providing analysis, and putting up with my dry sense of humor is important as well. Yes, we have to have laughs sometimes just to keep our sanity in check. Ms. Lucy has said our humor isn't always funny which makes me laugh again.
Shortly after starting the Hope for Survival website I realized I needed additional opinions and perspectives to contribute articles from different levels of preparedness and subject specific material. I was blessed to have several friends step up and provide articles for your reading pleasure. All in all, East Coast Gal, Gun Smoke, TazLady, Jager, Mountain Momma, Mountain Rose, Gypsy Trailblazer, and Festus provided fantastic support and allowed me additional time from writing articles to manage other aspects of this effort. Together, we have contributed nearly 325 articles for your reading pleasure. For a crew of part time writers and website management, I'm pretty pleased when I review the first year results. I thank these folks for their time and contribution to make the HFS site better.
So none of the above are complaints, it's just a look behind the curtain at what has taken place here during the last year. If I knew then what I know now, I would have said "thanks, but there is no way I could pull this off while working full time and having a life." Had I not jumped out and went for it, I would not have met so many of you and developed friendships outside the website. This I am thankful for. The emails, the phone chats, the personal visits, all of which support our preparedness goal and effort. But it builds bonds and friendships that I would not trade. So, thank you for all of the above. This may sound insignificant to some and to me it is sorta funny yet it really means a lot. I read and visit a lot of websites and articles daily. On some sites, it is nothing for an article to get 100,000 reads in a couple of hours. I'm thrilled that the HFS site has 5,000 visits in a year. Now, this number is a bit low because folks who travel straight to the blog page, bypassing the main page will not register in the total website visits. But when I think about it, 5,000 individuals stopped by to visit our site. We have registered about 40 of the 50 states, India, Philippines, United Kingdom, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and this morning a person from China was visiting the site. I'm thrilled to admit in the first year I managed to chap the behind of one person for using the term "libtard" in an article. She asked me to delete her email address from the mailing list. This is what prompted me to add the "Notice" before you delve in to the meat of the Patriot Express Newsletter. So, all in all, I really couldn't ask for anything more. I'm blessed to be here and thankful to have had the chance to provide a product most will read and to build friendships along this journey. Thank you.
But the journey is not over here. We are simply reflecting on how we got here and saying a big "thank you" to our writers and readers. This mission must move on to help others.
Here is the very first article I posted on Hope For Survival. I stand by the same foundation today as I did a year ago and the years before that. With the current pandemic taking place around us, I would hope many who failed to prepare now realize the importance of self-reliance. If you have friends or family who changed their mindset and now wish to prepare, send them the article below to get them started. We must give each person hope and then provide them support to get them where they are prepared without training wheels.
I’m addressing the subject of “Preparedness” to YOU!!! Do you realize that you already prepare for many things in your life and simply take it for granted? It’s a simple process we go through to complete each day. We sleep to rest for the next day. We wake up to go to work. We eat to feed our body and give it strength. We put gas in our automobiles to ensure we get from point A to point B. We have car insurance because it’s the law but also because we want to have the means available to replace and/or fix our automobile. We have home insurance for the same reason, right? Why do we lock our doors at night? Why does a governor evacuate a region or state when storms approach? Why do southern U.S. States close for business when the weather person forecast snow the following day? When the local news broadcast a pending storm approaching the area, what do you do? Are you one of the many who rushes out to buy milk, bread and ice cream to get through the storm? Why? You are simply doing what everyone else does…..react to the situation along with 90% of the population. So why stop there?
With current technology and the existing “supply on demand” concept, most cities are only stocked for a 72 hour period. That’s food, fuel and medication. Want me to repeat that? This means, if the 18 wheelers stop rolling, after a 72 hour period nothing is left….except what YOU have prepared. Let me state this point in another manner. Roughly 70 percent of all commodities consumed are moved by truck. Add another $295 billion in truck trade with Canada and $105.6 billion in truck trade with Mexico and it becomes apparent that any disruption in truck traffic will lead to rapid economic instability. That means no food, gas, or medicines. What comes next? Remember the Louisiana EBT shutdown story? How about the recent Hurricanes, IRMA, Harvey and Juan mass evacuations from Florida and Texas?
This means, significant shortages will occur in as little as three days, especially for perishable items following a national emergency. Shortages will start appearing on day two, not day three. Do YOU want to be amongst the 90% of the local populace in your area trying to get the last items off the shelf? My point is: you have a choice. You can take steps now NOT be a part of the 90% who are unprepared.
We can focus on the types of major disasters and events to cause the points made above. Hurricane, blizzards, ice storms, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, electro-magnetic pulse, solar flares, economic disruption to include collapse, pandemic outbreak, planet x, nuclear war, civil strife, zombie apocalypse. …………… Yes, certain precautions should be taken for these type events, however, if you aren’t preparing FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, SECURITY, and medication to take care of you and your family, you will most definitely fall in to the government’s 90% projection. Have you heard about it? Yes, the U.S. Government says through a Congressional study that 90% of the U.S. population will die in the first year as a result of a major pandemic outbreak or EMP attack on the grid. Have YOU ever lived through a power outage lasting 72 hours? Can you handle an outage lasting longer than a year?
Let’s talk about how YOU can take steps to prepare you to be more self-sufficient and prepared to handle the next crisis that comes along. Remember, the disaster is the event taking place, not the fact YOU failed to prepare. When you are out of food and water, cold, and a stranger is knocking on your door begging for what little food you may have, it is now YOUR own personal disaster. Think about it. Are YOU ready now? Get prepared!!! Read, educate, and prepare. Want to get started?
Contact me.
Blessings,
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