I met a woman in Walmart today in sporting goods. We were both looking at compound bows. Anyways after a little chit chat about bows, I learned she's a nurse practitioner, and really into prepping. She belongs to a group that's a licensed 501c, (able to get donations and govt grants etc), and is sanctioned by FEMA and local law enforcement. They are some sort of community response organization, kind of as a backup for FEMA or the national guard for the local area. They rent a small commercial building and set up a ham radio tower that reaches the local mountain areas here. She mentioned that there are other groups like this along the smokey mountain chain, and are supposed to help during disasters in the rural areas. They have workshops and classes and teach all kinds of skills from first aide to farming. I'm almost as excited as a kid before Christmas. Their next meeting is sept 8th, and I'll be there. I hope I can find some others locally that have the same goals as lots of us here have. I'll post any info I get.