Get prepared. Win prizes. Are you prepared for emergencies? How about your family and your neighborhood?

The fact is that most of us who live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area aren’t. Why? For some, it’s too much trouble. For some, they just don’t know how. And some are just plain scared and just don’t want to think about it.

Today's em4SF blog post comes to us by Rob Stengel, DEM's Emergency Services Planner and resident expert on mass care and shelter and who works closely with the American Red Cross, Bay Area Chapter in a variety of capabilities.

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This week's blog comes to us from DEM's Private Sector Liaison, Jim Turner. _________________________________________________________________________

You may be wondering what this blog title means and well, our thinking is that today is as good as any day to do something to promote your preparedness and resilience during this fall season of preparedness. So, as we approach the autumnal equinox this weekend, we hope you will be inspired by our weekly 'do something' message and...do something!

We are one month away from the the 5th Annual Great California ShakeOut, California’s state-wide drop, cover and hold on drill. We hope you will participate and help to spread the word about registering and participating in the drill planned for Thursday, October 18th at 10:18am. The purpose of the ShakeOut drill is practice and preparation: knowing what to do before, during and after an earthquake and preparing our homes, workplaces and schools for any type of an emergency.

When it comes to disaster preparedness for people with disabilities, thinking about building capacity to prosper is a powerful message. This message is effectively presented in Prepare to Prosper, a video that shares the preparedness stories and planning tips from Bay Area residents with disabilities.

So, we have this great app. It's called SF Heroes and it's on iPhone and Android smart phone platforms. If you haven't already, we hope you'll download it and join the fun. SF Heroes is one of DEM's online, social mechanism for learning about how to be prepared for an emergency; but what about an in-person way to do the same?

A few months ago on the DEM Blog, we posted Coming Soon to a YouTube Channel Near You, a blog about filming the SF Heroes promotional video and its goal to to explain what the SF Heroes app is and how it promotes emergency preparedness--in a fun and campy way.

If you’ve ever worked for or with a small nonprofit, you’ll agree that they often work miracles. Many offer an impressive list of resources and services to stakeholders on a shoestring budget with a small, but tenacious, staff.