Next month is National Preparedness Month with the theme Prepared, Not Scared. Be Ready for Disasters. National Preparedness Month (NPM) is recognized each September to promote family and community disaster and emergency planning now and throughout the year. This year’s campaign will feature PSAs and multimedia products around four weekly themes:

· Week 1: Sept 1-7 Save Early for Disaster Costs

· Week 2: Sept 8-14 Make a Plan to Prepare for Disasters

· Week 3: Sept 15-21 Teach Youth to Prepare for Disasters

· Week 4: Sept 22-30 Get Involved in Your Community’s Preparedness

Content has been loaded on the Ready.gov National Preparedness Month Toolkit webpage. This year, FEMA wants participants, which include ARES operators, to share their activities and success stories. The longtime ARRL partner wants brief descriptions of what you are planning for National Preparedness Month. Send them to FEMA-IGA@fema.dhs.gov with the word NPM in the subject line. An appropriate, brief submission would be your planned or conducted ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) activity. Many groups will be holding their SET during September and through the fall. The primary League-sponsored national emergency exercise is designed to assess the skills and preparedness of ARES and other organizations involved with emergency/disaster response. Here’s an opportunity to let FEMA know about it.

In June 2003, ARRL became an official affiliate program of Citizen Corps, an initiative within the Department of Homeland Security to enhance public preparedness and safety. The Statement of Affiliation makes ARRL an affiliate under the four charter Citizen Corps programs–Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers in Police Service, Community Emergency Response Teams and Medical Reserve Corps.