CEDAR FALLS -- It is the kind of thing one hopes they never have to use, like life insurance or fire escape ladders.

In the Cedar Falls Community School District that insurance policy is coming in the form of a five-gallon emergency supply containers, which should be placed in each classroom by the end of the month. The buckets, which include everything from a flashlight and emergency space blanket to first aid supplies and toilet paper, were funded by the Cedar Falls Lions Club.

"I originally became aware of this kind of project through our former director of elementary education. He had went to a conference, and this was one of the ideas he brought back, but because of a lack of funding it was difficult to get it implemented," said Sue Gettman, the district's school nurse coordinator.

Originally, Gettman, also the high school nurse, took it upon herself to get smaller versions of the kits in each high school classroom. She used $100 in emergency management funding and scrubbed out pickle and strawberry buckets from the district's food service operation to get the first kits started.

But Gettman wasn't satisfied. She wanted buckets in every classroom in the district. It was then that Dan Conrad, the district's director of secondary education and a fellow safety committee member, mentioned that the Cedar Falls Lion's Club was looking for a community project to get behind.

Lions Club members instantly were excited about the project, and even offered an additional $500 if the district would look at preparing buckets for classrooms at St. Patrick School in Cedar Falls. The $7,500 purchased 400 buckets and all the supplies needed to get the project off the ground.

"We are always looking for something we can do that's worthwhile," said Mark Miller, the Lions Club president. "We don't always have this kind of money available for projects, but we support what we can. We think this project is really in the best interests of the students."

The buckets include small items designed to help a teacher or student through a variety of emergencies. In addition to the first aid supplies, flashlight and toilet paper, the buckets include hard candies for a diabetic emergency, two bottles of water, duct tape, cell phone numbers and a calling tree for key administrators and color-coded placards that would tell emergency personnel about the severity of situation inside the room. The buckets also can be carried from the room and taken to another location in the event of an evacuation.

"Our hope is they never have to be used, but we still wanted to equip the classroom teachers and students with supplies that could help them out initially in a wide variety of emergencies. This is not an end-all kind of thing, but these things become very important in the event of a dangerous intruder or even weather emergency when people are stuck in the classroom for a longer period of time," Gettman said.

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.