From Americanredcross.org

Your kid comes home from school with an empty pillowcase and a list of disaster preparedness supplies to fill it with. That's the big take-away when youngsters participate in The Pillowcase Project, a Red Cross program sponsored by Disney. Along with the pillowcase, there's on online book and an app to help the third through fifth graders learn about fire prevention, family preparedness, and how to cope with disasters.

The Pillowcase project got a tremendous boost in late July when the Red Cross received an AmeriCorps grant of just over a million dollars from the Corporation for National and Community Service. The money will be used to deploy 60 AmeriCorps members across 15 states to send 60,000 youngsters home with their pillowcases. 20 more AmeriCorps members will distribute free smoke alarms and teach adults about home fire safety, with the goal of reducing deaths and injuries due to fires by 25 per cent over five years.

Families of the military and veterans will be a special focus of the joint effort, with 10 of the 80 AmeriCorps workers assigned to work with them.

“We are thrilled with this outstanding support from the Corporation for National and Community Service,” said Harvey Johnson, senior vice president, Red Cross Disaster Cycle Services. “This grant will support two critical projects that have already helped to save lives and will now be able to reach even more children and households, teaching people about preparedness and fire prevention.”