With hurricane season upon us, Mississippi�s American Red Cross chapters, in conjunction with Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, local emergency management and response officials and local businesses Saturday will participate in Disaster Preparedness Day. In Columbus, events will take place under a tent in front of Wal-Mart, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We have invited response teams from the fire department, they will be there, and (Columbus-Lowndes) Emergency Management will have a table set up,” said Becky Thomas, ARC Tenn-Tom Chapter executive director.
Thomas urges everyone to stop by and pick up the available preparedness guides, develop a family disaster plan and begin a disaster kit.
“We are going to have some freebies for their disaster kits,” she said.
”We want everyone to be prepared for any disaster that might happen, even if it�s just a power outage. Disaster plans just help a family in any emergency situation.”
Fun activities for children are planned and prizes will be given away throughout the day.
”There are going to be some fun things for children to do while their parents are developing their family disaster plan,” Thomas added.
Other local sponsors for the preparedness tent event include Cadence Bank, Chili”s, CPI Group, Kroger, McDonald”s, the Realtors Association, Don and Pauline Redmond, Sante Fe Cattle Co., Shelton Pharmacy, Dr. John Stanback and Sweet Peppers Deli.
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation�s blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization not a government agency and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission. For more information, visit www.redcross.org or join their blog at www.redcrosschat.org.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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