 Hi, I'm Brian May with Cal OES. We are in Santa Barbara County, specifically the Kachuma Lake Recreation Area, and behind me you see a group of about 50 or 60 that are camping here this weekend. But this weekend is about much more than just campfires and s'mores. Welcome to the first ever instructor retreat for Leastos. Leastos, Spanish for Ready, is a grassroots disaster preparedness program. It's tailored to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking communities. We don't talk about any terminology that's too overwhelming or acronyms or us in the preparedness world tend to be very, I want to say like almost complicated with all this terminology and information where the community, really the message you want to relay is get prepared at home, have a plan, stay informed, right? That's what we want and that's what Leastos is about. The whole way Leastos is presented is tailored for the Latino community, including the fact you will almost always see food. Lots of great food at Leastos gatherings. It is part of the hook. When we're having a meal, it's after the meal that you have these awesome conversations right? Getting there and everybody's kind of full and happy and starts sharing. You will also always see children at Leastos meetings. Families are embraced and a huge reason why many get involved. I'm really proud of my dad and my mom. My dad started the program and when I found out he was getting involved with the community, I felt proud. I know I have friends and their parents are scared like I said before, but by him taking that initiative, he sets an example for me and my sister to not be afraid to take the first step. Since its inception 10 years ago, roughly 35,000 people have gone through the Leastos programs across California, each one attending sessions like this one. No power points, no equipment needed, just basic but thorough safety and preparedness information. Let's be real, at home they're really not going to put on their rescue hats and really be very thorough in their search and rescue patterns and none of that. It's at home. How are you going to take care of your family at home? What are you going to do if you're without water for 10 days or electricity? How is that going to look like? It's that really planning at a family level. That's what we want to focus on. We need to get educated in these issues. We ignore how much help there is in the community. But someone came and told me there's these classes that are completely free, you should go and check them out. So I did. But wow, I'm blown away by everything that I'm learning, which is very basic. But I think it can definitely help me create a plan for my immediate family. I thought that I have to have a lot of money to buy an emergency kit, but it's not true. You can make an emergency kit with a few packs, you know, and that is what I teach. It's been a whirlwind, kind of 10 years, I just can't believe it's been 10 years. Back at the instructor retreat at Kachuma Lake, Barbara Anderson reflects on how much Listos has grown. She's been involved since day one. So things like putting butter on a burn, you know, they were taught by their grandmother that was taught by their grandmother that that is what you do to treat a burn. We were able to have that relationship and that trust to say that might be what you've been told, but it's not the right thing to do. This is the right thing to do. Moving forward, the goal for Listos for the next 10 years is to look much like the past 10 years, more growth, more empowerment by those going through it. It requires collaboration. It requires partnerships and it requires funding, right, and that's a huge component to it because we wouldn't be able to do all of this. So we got a fantastic partnership with the California Office of Emergency Services and California Volunteers. We have tremendously hardworking, passionate people. It's going to make me cry now because we just had someone in tears saying, I do this because I'm helping people and I'm helping people like me. And for us, it's, that's what it's all about. If you'd like more information on the Listos program in California, you can go to CFA as in California for all, cfalistos.org. We've also got it on our website at oesnews.com. For all of us at Cal OES, I'm Brian May. Thanks for watching.