Mehlville Company Helps Citizens Prepare for Natural Disasters

Even though tornadoes and storms are prevalent in the Midwest, a national survey recently revealed eight out of 10 Americans are not prepared for natural or man-made disasters, which are occurring at an ever-increasing rate across the nation.

The Safety Junction, Inc. is a new 72-hour emergency preparedness company designed to provide families with consumer-friendly emergency preparedness products and education. The Safety Junction Set, designed to make preparedness convenient and straightforward, is aligned with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 72-hour emergency preparedness guidelines. The company went national at the beginning of May.

The Safety Junction’s product offering allows consumers to build a kit tailored to their family composition. In four steps, customers can build a set specific to their needs taking into consideration factors such as geographic location, number of individuals and pets in a family, etc.

“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to make a difference in the lives of others through my work,” owner and Mehlville resident Jen McMahon said. “For nearly 17 years, both my husband and I had been corporate executives with excellent-paying jobs, great benefits and endless opportunities to acquire material goods for which we are truly grateful. However, giving back to us at that point really meant helping by making large financial donations to organizations in and around the Saint Louis area.  We worked a lot, our children were home with a nanny who became an integral part of our home life, and we were on a path that just didn’t feel fulfilling or philanthropic, however I don’t think either of us knew how to change our path or chart a new course.” 

Once both she and her husband were set on different career paths and volunteerism efforts—and then the Sunset Hills tornado struck. They began looking around the house to see what they had in case of an emergency.  They located two flashlights without working batteries and a first-aid kit with no Band-Aids.

“That was our first real thought about emergency preparedness.  First-Aid, fire protection—those were two areas we felt pretty good about but natural and man-made disasters we just weren’t on top of those,” she said. “So we began thinking more about it, but like many families, we didn’t go much further with our thoughts until we began following weather and disaster reports pretty closely and we saw a trend occurring around the world.  These huge disasters were devastating communities and there was very little pre-planning on the part of their citizens.”

Then Joplin was leveled. That was the final straw for the couple. 

“We were ready to make a difference for our own safety and the safety of others,” McMahon said.

Now, when a customer purchases a set for his or her family, included in the purchase is a comprehensive emergency planning component not offered in any other emergency bucket, bag or backpack on the market. The planning bundle, one of six bundles of products included in the family preparedness pack, offers product and planning education, advice on how to utilize and store products as well as a proprietary reminder notification system that alerts customers when items in the set need to be replenished.

The Safety Junction equates its product portfolio to products within the life, car and health insurance industries with a “better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it” mindset.

The Safety Junction is donating a percentage of each set sold to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The company also offers a fundraising program for school parent-teacher organizations through which, if products are purchased by families within a school and the school’s program code is used during checkout, the school receives 10 percent of each sale.