Meet with others who are interested in discussing basic and advanced preparedness issues. The long-term goal would be to form a group of people (Preppers) with a variety of skills and/or resources that they would bring to the Group should we ever need to retreat (called "bug-out") to a refuge (called "the bug-out location" or "BOL" for short). This would be in the event of a long-term loss of electricity, and access to food and water, possibly caused by an act of terrorism, a natural disaster, or some other event that would create panic and chaos (called "when the SHTF"). The idea is that "People can do better collectively than they can individually", and "There is strength in numbers". In the short-term, let's learn what we need to be thinking about and doing NOW. Founded in March of 2009, The Colony Co-op has grown to include a small but dedicated group of smart and resourceful people. I can only take credit for "creating" the group on MeetUp; who it attracted was beyond my control. As it turns out, most of our members are women, and about 90% of our members are Christian, so I recommend you know how to get along with Christians before joining this group. We believe that each member has something unique and positive to bring to the Group and we look forward to assembling a group of trustworthy friends who can (with the help of God) comfortably withstand whatever the future happens to throw our way. Our focus at the moment is preparing the BOL in the way of 1) planting fruit trees 2) putting in a garden, and 3) stocking the storage area with preps. We enjoy gathering at the BOL for campouts and other activities. Feedback from our members is always welcome.