Why?
With a very small team of two people, Prepped &
Ready staff time would be much better spent focusing
on high-value priorities like research or program
development rather than stuffing and shipping
toolkits. In-person events allow the personal
connection of handing off the safety kits to individuals,
which does give added weight to the participant and
likely encourages changed behavior. But if it’s
desirable to make these kits accessible to an online
audience, and an audience that is participating in the
program in an ongoing asynchronous format, then a
more sustainable method of delivery is required.How?
Cottonwood Industries is able to assemble, provide
short-term storage and distribution of kits. This would
allow Prepped & Ready to continue using their kits
including safe storage for medicine, medicine disposal,
gun locks, as well as any supplemental materials. Kits
can be shipped in bulk to host sites or individually to
participants. An additional benefit to partnering with
Cottonwood Industries is the support of their mission
of employing and supporting people with intellectual
and developmental disabilities.We also connected with LockMed which supplied
us with a price list of a wide selection of medication
safety storage options and they offer bulk discounts
for orders of 50+ units. There are many options at a
lower price point, allowing funds to be reallocated to
additional kit content, if so desired.One of the challenges we’ve identified specifically
as it relates to kit fulfillment, is that in its current form
it does not address gun owners who are primarily
concerned with self-defense and want to keep their
firearm as accessible as possible. A cable gun lock,
while effective, does not allow a gun owner to store
their firearm in a ready, but safe state. Additionally
cable locks are already a standard inclusion for most
gun manufacturers. An avenue we did not explore, but
would recommend investigating would be a
partnership with the existing organization Project
Childsafe which already offers a robust national cable
lock distribution program.To address the self-defense safe storage challenge,
we spoke with veteran and businessman Fred
Stipkovits, owner of Night Raptor Tactical which is a
wholesaler of a range of duty gear and tactical
products. He’s passionate about gun safety and is
connected with numerous local health organizations
and offered to partner with Prepped & Ready to offer
discounted, drop-shipped biometric safes for
interested Prepped & Ready participants at or near
cost. We recommend connecting with Fred to
determine the simplest, most efficient way to
streamline this process, which might involve the
development of a promotional code, or an online form
for processing these requests.Ideally, upon completion of the program online or in
person, the participant would be able to fill out a form
and/or make an educated, discounted purchase
immediately. By making these safe storage options as
available and affordable as possible, it increases the
likelihood of changed behavior.Tactic V:
Outsource safety kit fulfillment