Here are the five best things you can do today to protect your family.

Friday, if you are a daily subscriber to Bainbridge Prepares, you received a long newsletter with some old posts. Rest assured that we’re not losing our grip.

This month, May 5 at 6:30 p.m., Veg Club teaches you how to protect your garden by supporting the many beautiful, friendly, and powerful insects that control pests. Learn to recognize and invite these underappreciated allies early so they're ready to work when pests arrive.

A disaster will likely make roads impassable. How will you move around the island to seek first aid, information, and other resources? If needed, how will you evacuate?

This past sunny Saturday, April 25, about 30 volunteers gathered outside a home in Blakely Harbor. They were gathered to participate in a wildfire evacuation exercise.

Saturday, May 9, you can take care of all your fire extinguisher needs: Get your extinguishers inspected, serviced replaced, and upgraded. You can also practice using them.

Women’s Work: The Untold Story of America’s Female Farmers sheds light on an essential history. The movie, which came out in 2024, focuses on the largely unknown and hidden experience of women farmers, especially Black, Indigenous, Latina, Asian, and Queer women farmers.

Since assuming the position of Bainbridge Prepares’ Executive Director in early March, Stephen Richardson has immersed himself into learning about BP’s culture by meeting with 100 BP volunteers.

A disaster is likely to result in serious injuries, overwhelming the capacity of first responders. What will you be able to do to help your injured family members and neighbors?

BP’s new Executive Director Stephen Richardson and Devin James, Co-Chair of the BP Board, recently sat down with Reed Price, the Executive Director of the Senior Center. The occasion was the Something to Talk About podcast.

This month in our Prepare in a Year program, we’re focusing on communication: the technology and the plans required to keep you and your family connected. Take a few minutes in March to think through the following three potential scenarios.

When a disaster occurs, the first thing people want to do is find out what happened, get a sense of what will happen, and make sure the people they care about are okay. This month we focus on communication.

Preparing for emergencies can be expensive. When it comes to building an emergency food supply, the high cost is exacerbated by the fact that food expires more quickly than other resources. Add to that the rising cost of food in 2025 and 2026, and you might be tempted to ignore the issue altogether.

Healthy eating improves gut health, and one of the best ways to achieve that is through growing and eating your own food. But some of us don’t have space for a large garden.

Last year was a big one for Bainbridge Prepares as the organization moved into its 15th year of operation, struggled through some growing pains, and achieved some crucial organizational milestones. We reached out to Bainbridge Prepares Teams to get their recaps of last year’s accomplishments. This is what the teams shared.

In a large-scale earthquake, the South End is likely to be cut off from the rest of the Island, and residents there want to make sure they will have access to key emergency supplies so they can manage for weeks or longer until roads can be cleared. The community fundraised for materials and construction, and right before the New Year about a dozen people helped build and load a supershed at the Fort Ward Community Hall Disaster Hub.

The second most-important supply, after water, is food.

In a disaster, grocery stores will likely be closed for a while. But even if they are able to open, their supply will be cleared out quickly, and the disaster may make it impossible for stores to restock their shelves right away.

The Bainbridge Prepares’ Food Resilience Team Veg Club, as always, is itching to get started on another season of abundant growth.

This month the Prepare in a Year topic is water. Do the Prepare in a Year activity (submit the form if you want to enter to win a prize), but also teach yourself more on the topic.

We’re starting our Prepare in a Year 26 program with water because, without it, you’re not going to last very long after a disaster.