What Hotels, Shelters & Nonprofits Should Stock Now

When severe weather is on the way, the time to figure out what you are missing is before demand suddenly increases.

For hotels, shelters, nonprofits, transitional housing programs, and other organizations serving their communities, storms can create unexpected needs almost overnight. Hotels may see displaced families or emergency personnel checking in. Shelters may need to accommodate more people. Community organizations may find themselves distributing supplies to families affected by outages, flooding, or evacuations.

A little preparation now can make responding later much easier.

Start with the Supplies People Use Immediately

In an emergency or temporary housing situation, basic personal care items can make an immediate difference.

Consider keeping additional quantities of:

• Toothbrushes and toothpaste
• Bar soap or body wash
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Deodorant
• Hand sanitizer and cleansing towelettes
• Facial tissues
• Feminine hygiene products
• Combs and other basic grooming supplies
• Drawstring bags for assembling individual hygiene kits

These may be small products, but they are often among the first things people need when they arrive somewhere unexpectedly.

A Simple Tip for Nonprofits

Instead of waiting until supplies are needed, consider assembling a small reserve of ready-to-distribute hygiene kits.

Having basic personal care products already grouped together can help staff and volunteers respond quickly when demand increases.

Do Not Forget Towels and Linens

Personal care supplies are only part of emergency readiness.

Organizations providing temporary or overnight accommodations should also review their inventory of:

Bath Supplies

• Bath towels
• Hand towels
• Washcloths

Bedding

• Sheets
• Pillowcases
• Blankets
• Pillows
• Mattress covers or protectors

During a normal week, your current linen inventory may be perfectly adequate. During an unexpected increase in occupancy, those same supplies can disappear quickly.

Maintaining a reasonable backup inventory can help prevent staff from scrambling to locate essentials while they are already managing additional guests or residents.

Hotels Can Become Part of the Local Response

Emergency preparedness is not only a concern for shelters and nonprofits.

Hotels, motels, inns, and extended-stay properties can experience very different occupancy patterns during severe weather.

Guests may include:

• Families temporarily displaced from their homes
• Utility and restoration crews
• Emergency response personnel
• Insurance teams
• Travelers whose plans have suddenly changed

That means preparing for severe weather should include more than checking generators and emergency procedures.

Take a look inside your supply closets, too.

Do you have enough towels if occupancy jumps?

Are there extra toiletries available for guests who arrived without luggage?

Could housekeeping handle several days of heavier-than-normal linen turnover?

Those questions are much easier to answer before the weather changes.

Build a Small Emergency Reserve

Preparing does not necessarily mean filling an entire storeroom with extra inventory.

Start with the products your organization goes through fastest.

Your Emergency Supply Checklist

• Review current toiletries and personal care inventory
• Count available towels and washcloths
• Check sheet and pillowcase quantities
• Maintain backup blankets and pillows
• Identify the supplies that disappear fastest during high occupancy
• Set a minimum quantity that should always remain on hand
• Create several ready-to-use hygiene kits
• Assign someone to review emergency inventory regularly
• Reorder before supplies reach critical levels
• A simple system can prevent a much larger problem later.

Let Your Community Help Before Supplies Run Low

For shelters, group homes, outreach programs, and other nonprofits, preparing for increased demand does not have to fall entirely on your organization.

The Hotel Supplies Online Donation Registry allows organizations to create a list of the products they need and share it with supporters.

Churches, businesses, board members, civic groups, and community members can then purchase requested supplies directly from the registry.

That can be especially useful when preparing for seasonal emergencies or replenishing supplies after responding to a local need.

Instead of asking supporters to guess what to donate, your organization can show them exactly what would help.

Preparedness Is Really About People

Emergency preparation often focuses on the biggest things: evacuation plans, food, transportation, power, and communication.

Those things matter.

But once someone reaches a hotel, shelter, group home, or temporary housing program, the smaller comforts matter too.

A clean towel.

A toothbrush.

Fresh sheets.

Soap and shampoo.

A few basic supplies can help someone feel a little more comfortable during a situation that may be anything but comfortable.

That is why stocking ahead is not simply inventory management. It is part of being ready to serve the people who may walk through your doors.

Prepare Now with Hotel Supplies Online

Hotel Supplies Online provides bulk hotel supplies, hygiene kit supplies, guest room amenities, towels, bedding, and personal care essentials for hotels, shelters, nonprofits, healthcare facilities, outreach programs, and other organizations across the United States.

Review your inventory now, identify the essentials you cannot afford to run out of, and restock before demand changes.

Prepare early. Stay stocked. Be ready when your community needs you.