Wheat State's Hello Central Winter 2018

According to a news report from USA Today , nearly one-third of Americans have had packages stolen from their front porch by brazen thieves. How can you help avoid this type of theft from happening to you? Consider the strategies below: Have Packages Delivered to Your Workplace This is arguably one of the safest options, since packages will be brought inside the business rather than being left outside your home. Require Signature on Delivery To prevent your package being stolen off the front porch or home exterior location, ask the delivery company for signature-required delivery. That way, if the delivery person does not follow protocol and leaves the package without obtaining your signature first, you may be entitled to a full refund or replacement if the package is stolen. Place a Vacation Hold on Packages In addition to putting a hold on your mail from the United States Postal Service, you can also place a hold on packages with delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS and have them keep your packages at their terminals or delivery centers until you return home. Sign Up for Delivery Alerts Many delivery companies offer text or email alerts giving you the expected delivery date as well as a message telling you that the delivery was made. If you aren’t home when the delivery arrives, you at least have the opportunity to get home quickly and retrieve your package or ask a neighbor you trust to do it for you. Install Security Cameras Visible security cameras can serve as a deterrent and help to prevent packages from being stolen from front porches. Should a theft still occur, the surveillance footage can be made public by police to assist them in the process of identifying, finding, and charging the thieves. Cornerstone Group © 2018 Prevent Packages from Getting Stolen at Your Front Door o Let Gingerbread Cookie Day Spice Up November Dense, ginger-spiced cookies fla- vored with molasses or honey date back to the Middle Ages, when intri- cately carved boards were used as templates to make fanciful shapes. Sold at fairs, these treats became beloved holiday traditions. National Gingerbread Cookie Day is now celebrated yearly on November 21. So get out your rolling pin and get rolling! Here are a few tips from Allrecipes, the original and largest food-focused social network: • To make sticky gingerbread dough easier to work with, chill it for at least 1 hour before rolling it out. • Roll out the dough on a surface that’s lightly dusted with flour or a mixture of flour and confectioners’ sugar (aka powdered sugar). If the dough isn’t too sticky, you can roll it out between sheets of parch- ment paper. • Keep cookie cutters from sticking to the dough by misting them very lightly with cooking spray or dipping the edges into flour. To get more gingerbread cookie tips as well as lots of recipes, visit www.allrecipes.com .