Mr. Rawles,
Thank you for all you do. I cherish my daily visits to SurvivalBlog. The recent letter titled “Living in a Small Town – An Australian Perspective” by Margaret G. inspired me to write you.
We moved from a large city to place just outside a small town a year ago. We are just now being accepted as part of the community. I agree very much with Margaret G.! Another thing I can add is joining the local Volunteer Fire Department. Through the dept and a lot of hard work we find ourselves a part of the community. Because I am over 60 (and not as physically fit as they require) I cannot fight fires. On the other hand, there is a heck of a lot I can do to help the dept in terms of administration, cleaning equipment after a fire, etc. Now the department has a “Rehab” group that supports the firefighters in a larger fire with water, food, taking vitals and so forth to keep the firefighters functional and thus safer.
I’d like to encourage other preppers to look into volunteering. More than 70% of all firefighters are unpaid volunteers, and without them we are in serious trouble, SHTF or not. By the way, with very rare exception, volunteer firefighters have just the kind of character and selfless courage you want as neighbors. OPSEC still applies, of course.
In God we trust, – W.B.