Former Island Resident Returns To Help Hawaii ‘Be Ready’

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Be Ready Inc. founder Al Cabacungan (left) with his sons, Koa (center) and Pono. Photos courtesy Chris Chauncey.

California disaster-preparedness company Be Ready Inc., based out of Oceanside, is making its way to the Islands Feb. 1, owned by a former resident who wanted to help his home state.

The shop will be located in Waipio Business Center and will carry supplies that people need to be self-sufficient during an emergency situation.

In addition to offering a range of supplies, Be Ready also hopes to conduct educational seminars to better teach people how to be prepared.

Customers will find waterand food-storage containers, including tanks that can store up to 250 gallons of water at a time.

Other products include 72-hour emergency kits, lithium batteries and solarrun products such as lanterns, flashlights and radios.

“Our mission is to help people take care of themselves and help their neighbors,” said founder Al Cabacungan.

Cabacungan established Be Ready Inc. in 1991 in Oceanside. But what has evolved into a successful business started as just a way for Cabacungan, who has seven children, to protect his family against a potential disaster.

“I found that it might be better to just put all the (supplies) in one place, so that is what I did,” he explained. “It was all just about taking care of my family.”

Pretty soon, his sisters, his parents and many of his friends wanted his help in putting survival supplies together. To accommodate the rising demand, he opened a small kiosk in a mall with a few supplies.

From there, the company opened the Oceanside store. Today, it sells its products to clients throughout the world.

Like its store in Oceanside, Calif., Be Ready Inc.‘s Waipio outlet will carry food and water storage containers and emergency prep kits.

Although Cabacungan is a longtime California resident, he was born on Oahu and has many ties to the Islands. He lived in Hawaii until he was a teenager, and later returned to attend college. Much of his family lives here today, and he has been wanting to expand his business to Hawaii for years.

Cabacungan said that Hawaii has a particular set of challenges when it comes to disaster preparedness because of its isolation. Necessary goods are often more difficult to obtain in a timely, costefficient manner.

“Being from the Islands, I have always wanted to go back and help,” he added. “If we can help people prepare before the sirens go off, then we are doing our job. “Because if you think about it ... the time that people prepare for any kind of disaster is after a disaster. Our goal is to teach and educate prior to that so that they are ready and they are prepared.”

In order to achieve that goal, Be Ready Inc. plans to offer services for the public to learn about strategies, starting with an Emergency Preparedness Seminar and Expo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 3 at Brigham Young University-Hawaii’s campus ballroom.

As a part of its opening week celebration, the expo provides an opportunity for people to hear disaster preparedness tips, as well as learn about the company’s mission and its products.

In the future, Be Ready hopes to expand its educational component. Currently, it conducts free preparedness seminars on the Mainland and it hopes to host these events in the Islands, too.

Seminars address issues such as how to store food and water, what type of food items to include in storage, what to include in an emergency kit and what to do in specific disaster situations.

The company will celebrate its opening day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at 94-1388 Moaniani St., Suite 101, at Waipio Business Center.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For more information, visit bereadyinchawaii.com.