911-- What Is Your Emergency: Community Emergency Preparedness Fair

Amarillo, TX. To help prepare the community for emergency disaster situations, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hosting an Emergency Preparedness Fair for the Amarillo/Canyon community on Saturday, April 27, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 5401 Bell Street in Amarillo.

Communications Director Lani Hall has been involved with assisting in various emergencies during the last 2 years, obtaining emergency disaster supplies for the Perryton and Matador areas after the summer tornadoes, as well as helping secure emergency food supplies for the High Plains Food Bank and delivery of hay to area ranchers impacted by the 2024 wildfires that have raged in the Texas Panhandle. Hall says: “When we thought about how we could best serve our community, we decided having an Emergency Preparedness Fair that covered all the variety of preparation community members could make to protect their families during natural disasters would be helpful. We can’t stop the wind from blowing, but we can prepare for how to pick up the pieces when it does!”

KAMR Meteorologist John Harris highlights the event with two presentations about dealing with severe weather situations at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Other vendors include the Amarillo Chapter of the American Red Cross (providing information about First Aid kits), Texas A&M Agri-Life (providing information about family evacuation plans, water storage, caring for animals during emergencies), Texas Tech School of Pharmacy (providing information about medical grab and go bags, giving free blood pressure screenings and glucose level screenings, as well as information about medical clean out opportunities), Amarillo Office of Emergency Management (discussing the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program), Collin Hall, Edward Jones Financial Advisor (providing information about financial grab and go bags), Sharon Pontius, member of the Texas Stake Relief Society Presidency (providing information about putting together 72 hour kits), Ellen Baird, member of the Amarillo Texas Stake Young Women Presidency (providing information about food storage), Dalia Taylor, Stake Self Reliance Specialist (providing information about free courses in personal finance, emotional resilience, starting and growing a business, find a better job), Trudy Hanson, retired WTAMU Communication professor (providing information about activities for children during an emergency evacuation. All these vendors staff booths during the 4-hour fair.

A special treat will be the Smokehouse Trailer from the Amarillo Fire Department which will be at the fair for tours and information.

As an added incentive, those attending the Emergency Preparedness Fair can win door prizes. The event is free and open to the public. For additional information contact Trudy Hanson at hansontrudy@outlook.com.