Putting together a kit for a youth shelter.

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Fonly

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Sep 24, 2006
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So, Ive been asked to put together a kit for a youth shelter here in the city.

I wanted to see what you guys thought also should go in it.
because its a shelter it has blankets, food and water and two fullsized FAK's that are readily avalible. This place doesnt have a set of tools, or cooking equipment so,

I was thinking either a few of the Portable stoves that have the little round can's of fuel, or should I just get a propane stove?
Flashlights, crank radio, multitool, hammer and some nail's, and a few whistles in the for the heck of it.

the kit need to cover power outages, there are a chance of tonados here, and snow in's.

So what do you guys think?
 
I would say propane is a little easier to deal with and you could possibly even snag a few of the large bottles instead of a bunch of small ones. Depends on how much they need to move around. For tools, I would go to some discount tool place, down here we have Harbor Freight, and just throw together a decent set of tools. That is fine if they won't be under heavy usage. I would also suggest some large battery-operated or rechargeable lights. Also, if someone is trained properly on site, a trauma bag would be a good investment. Tornados are nasty bastards. You might need more than a basic FAK.
 
I'd get a 20lb propane tank and a stove with 2 burners, a couple of large pots to boil water in (the rest of the kit can fit in the pots! )
 
Fonly said:
So, Ive been asked to put together a kit for a youth shelter here in the city.

I wanted to see what you guys thought also should go in it.
because its a shelter it has blankets, food and water and two fullsized FAK's that are readily avalible. This place doesnt have a set of tools, or cooking equipment so,

I was thinking either a few of the Portable stoves that have the little round can's of fuel, or should I just get a propane stove?
Flashlights, crank radio, multitool, hammer and some nail's, and a few whistles in the for the heck of it.

the kit need to cover power outages, there are a chance of tonados here, and snow in's.

So what do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Hey Fonly, how's it going bro?

Here's what I think - you obviously feel that you want to help the youth shelter, so, if you have the time, why not have a stove-making workshop and make a bunch of recycled beer/pop can alcohol stoves? There's a ton of information on making them on the web. I think this would be good on 2 levels - first of all, there would be many stoves, at no cost, available in times of emergency and 2. learning how to make these stoves and actually making them could help those with self esteem problems???

Just my 2 cents.

Doc
 
dougo83 said:
DOC
I had a question about those stoves. Would tuna cans work?
Click to expand...

I really don't know, Doug. All the ones I have seen used empty beer/pop cans. You can make buddy burners with tuna cans. That entails rolling up some corrugated cardboard to fill up the can with and then melting some paraffin and saturating the cardboard with it. If you need more information about it, email me.

Doc
 
Along with a propane stove find some propane lanterns that use the same disposable cylinder. Safer and easier to use than white gas.
 
I tend the opposite way. I'd be wanting liquid fuel stoves. Something big and solid as it's for group use. I've heard you can get a gizmo over there at Cabelas to top up the little gas bottles from a bigger tank, but I've not checked. That wouldn't be my route though. I'd be wanting pressure stoves and plenty of BTUs. They are more economical to run and don't suffer the temperature problems gas does, which could be a significant issue for you as you are speaking of being snowed in. I'd also be using the same fuel to run Coleman North Star duel fuel lanterns. I'd be wanting to build a solid central rally point with the kitchen with workhorse stuff. I'd supplement that with a few bits of smaller kit – LED lights and night light lanterns for when folk want to snuck off on their own, or in pairs.
 
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in any case, remember to NOT use the stoves/lanterns INDOORS! that mean ol carbon monoxide feller is bad news.
 
Bushman5 said:
in any case, remember to NOT use the stoves/lanterns INDOORS! that mean ol carbon monoxide feller is bad news.
Click to expand...

That was another thing that made me go for the luquid burners, we have some here a CDN tire that are indoors frendly, no harsh gases.

I like the Idea of a few small kits, alot of the time you see the kids take sides in the shelter, its inevitable, but it would be nice for them to have some of their own stabilty. All staff at the shelter have St. John
's First aid training. which is the stuff paramedics use, so they are definetly trained.
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Hey Fonly, how's it going bro?

Here's what I think - you obviously feel that you want to help the youth shelter, so, if you have the time, why not have a stove-making workshop and make a bunch of recycled beer/pop can alcohol stoves? There's a ton of information on making them on the web. I think this would be good on 2 levels - first of all, there would be many stoves, at no cost, available in times of emergency and 2. learning how to make these stoves and actually making them could help those with self esteem problems???

Just my 2 cents.

Doc
Click to expand...

Not too bad Doc, certainly got lots to read here when I get a chance! :thumbup: :D

This I like, and something you guys gotta remeber too is that these kids have nothing, its not like a small town shelter. These kids can have sever drug problems, mental disabilities and are UNDER 18, so its quite the situation sometimes. this kist is more less for staff only, in a sever situation they want staff to transport kids to a local emergancy shelter, but im trying to get awayfrom this unless someone is in dire medical need. Because if theres only one staff meber on, which happens, if one kid has to go, they all have to go.
 
based on what you just posted Fonly, may i suggest a backpakc "bail out kit" , basically a backpack with stoves, freeze dried soups, fuel canisters, FAK etc etc etc et ctec, something that you cna grab from the office, put on and go.

oooh oooh maybe a KELLY KETTLE!!!!!
 
yeah, I really dont like the Idea of leaving the shelter. Everything that is needed will be there, and unless there is a tornado headed strait for it, or the roof is missing it makes much more sense to me to stay put.
 
One way of doing things is to have a chat with the local fire dept or civil defense or whoever runs rescue in case of bigger natural disasters. Maybe invite them in to have a chat with the kids at the shelter.
I was thinking about the differences between one big stove and many small ones.
One big propane tank can be tricky to get approved, maybe. It depends on local fire regs.
If you use smaller camping stoves, the kids team up and make food in groups, and voila, you have invented a team building thing.
Lets say, in theory, that kids normally "live" in groups of X (they sleep in the same room etc), then you should have a bag with gear for those X people in every room or so.
If you go for a field day you just grab the bag. If the power goes out or you have to evac to somewhere else it is nothing strange, then it is just another field trip. Instead of going to Lake Thisandthat you go to your own back yard or some other place.
Cheap white gas stoves might do. The Swedish mess kits you can buy for nothing.
They are also very robust and almost fool proof. If you use them, lets say every last sunday in the month, "some fancy name-day" when you rotate the food in the stocks.
Like we had when I was in Bosnia. Occacionaly we had "MRE day". We always had proper food, but on the MRE day we filled up the stores with new food and ate what was getting old.

I had another idea, however I didnt think about that only Sweden (and in some way some other countries) have the right to roam free in the land (the Allemansrätten), otherwise the shelter people could visit the outdoors occasionaly, and then get used to the outdoor stuff and do team building things.

Maybe it is a shelter for homeless. I dont know. Anyway homeless people are people too and might have skills that might be very useful. I guess even the most depressed bum will rise to the occasion if he gets trust and responsibility. To feel that he is needed.
I guess more smaller kits will make more people involved in the process of keeping the shelter running in case of emergency. One big stove with a big tank is more vulnerable than smaller stoves, no matter the fuel.

Good luck with your gear.
 
First off Fonly , it's great that you're willing & able to do this:thumbup:

When I was asked to work at a Red Cross shelter after Katrina , a problem for us was that the guests needed something to do to pass the time. It can get pretty boring just sitting around in the building. Boredom leads to bad things sometimes.

Consider having some kind of activities that will keep the people occupied while they're waiting for the incident to pass. Maybe the shelter already has some stuff like that on hand , but it's worth checking before the time comes.

Checkers-chess-cards-bingo:eek:-crafty stuff might be some ideas.

Anyway....good luck!!!
Cliff
 
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