* TIPS & GIVEAWAY * Emergency Preparedness Tips & Clorox - $25 Visa Gift Card Giveaway (ends 9/15 at 11:59 PM CDT)

Being in the Midwest, we are sometimes prone to severe weather, like snowstorms, flooding, tornadoes and other natural disasters.  For the next few weeks, I'll be sharing tips with you on how to prepare your household in case one of these emergencies happen to you.

It’s National Preparedness Month - What are the three critical steps to creating an emergency preparedness plan for your household in case of emergency?

• Disasters can happen quickly and unexpectedly. The most important step to staying safe is being prepared BEFORE an emergency occurs.

• When designing your emergency preparedness plan, you can implement the following three easy steps:

o Purchase or build an emergency preparedness kit – Your kit should house enough supplies to last your household a minimum of three days for evacuations and 2 weeks for emergencies at home. Next week, I’ll offer specific tips on building a disaster kit with your family

Households should create or purchase an emergency preparedness kit with enough supplies for everyone to last three days for evacuations and two weeks for emergencies at home. Include things like: water, non-perishable food, flashlight, radio, first aid kit, a multi-purpose tool, important medications and copies of personal documents. You may also include household liquid bleach such as Clorox for cleaning and disinfecting and emergency water sanitation.

o Make an emergency preparedness plan – Schedule a meeting in your household to discuss what to do in case you are separated during an emergency. Choose two places to meet – one right outside the house and the other outside your neighborhood. Be sure to practice and review the plan twice a year!

o Get educated – Get to know the types of disasters (e.g. hurricanes, floods or forest fires) prevalent in your area so that you can better tailor both your kit and plan. Find out how local officials will contact residents of your city to advise of important safety information. AND, get first aid training. Learn critical techniques like CPR and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

• For more information please visit www.clorox.com/redcross and download the preparedness guide: Prepare Yourself Now for Peace of Mind Later.

We are happy to be able to give one (1) lucky My Chicago Mommy reader a $25 Visa gift card to start your own Emergency Prepardness Kit!

Entries to the giveaway will be accepted until Wednesday, September 15th at 11:59 pm CDT. Here's how to enter:

Fill out the form below & hit "Submit" for each entry (i.e., submit your entry twice if you do the BONUS action).

Here are the ACTION CODES to use (one entry for each):

* Fill out your name & email address - use code: INFO

* Subscribe to the newsletter (do not need to be a new subscriber) - use code: SUBSCRIBE

* E-mail the giveaway to friends (cc: mychicagomommies@gmail.com & get 1 entry per friend up to 5 entries) - use code: EMAIL

* Follow MyChicagoMommy on Twitter - use code: TWITTER & enter your Twitter name after the code

* Tweet it out "Enter @mychicagomommy http://bit.ly/mcmclorox Clorox Giveaway" - use code: TWEET - please leave a comment with the link to your Tweet

* Leave a comment on My Chicago Mommy's Facebook Page saying "I want the gift card from Clorox!" - use code: FACEBOOK
* Follow Clorox on Twitter - use code: CLORTWIT & enter your Twitter name after the code
* Leave a comment on Clorox's Facebook Page saying "My Chicago Mommy sent me!" - use code: CLORFB 

* BONUS (2 entries): Visit Clorox & The Red Cross' website and answer the question "What is something you learned from visiting the site?” - use code: BONUS + comment on this post with your first name, last initial, & your answer.

Disclosure: As a blog tour participant, I received information and giveaways from The Clorox Company and Consumer Queen at no cost to me. I was compensated for my time by The Clorox Company for participating in this project. All views are my own.

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