The New Year is?here and many have made resolutions about things they want to do in 2017. The American Red Cross asks everyone to add getting prepared for emergencies to their list of resolutions.

?Households need to plan what they would do if an emergency situation occurred,? said Colin Downey, Regional Communications Director. ?All it takes is three easy steps; get a disaster kit ready, develop an emergency plan and be informed about what possible risks you may face where you live.?

Families need to plan what they should do if a disaster occurs. Individuals can make a difference in their community by knowing what to do when disaster strikes. It?s just a few short steps away:

1. Get a kit. If you?ve ever fumbled to find a flashlight during a blackout, you know what it feels like to be unprepared. Use a downloadable checklist available on redcross.org to make it easy to get your emergency preparedness kit ready. You should include:

• Three-day supply of non-perishable food and water?one gallon per person, per day for drinking and hygiene purposes
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible)
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit, medications and medical items
• Copies of all important documents (proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies)
• Extra cash

2. Make a plan. Talk with household members about what you would do during emergencies. Plan what to do in case you are separated, and choose two places to meet – one right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency such as a fire, and another outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home or are asked to evacuate.

• Choose a contact person from out of the area and make sure all household members have this person?s phone number and email address. It may be easier to call long distance or text if local phone lines are overloaded or out of service.
• Tell everyone in the household where emergency information and supplies are kept.
• Practice evacuating your home twice a year. Drive your planned evacuation route and plot alternate routes on a map in case main roads are impassable.
• Don?t forget your pets. If you must evacuate, make arrangements for your animals. Keep a phone list of ?pet friendly? motels/hotels and animal shelters that are along your evacuation routes.

3. Be informed. Know the risks where you live, work, learn and play.

• If you live or travel often to areas near a fault line, learn how to prepare and what to do during an earthquake. Remember that emergencies like fires and blackouts can happen anywhere, so everyone should be prepared for them.
• Find out how you would receive information from local officials in the event of an emergency.
• Learn First Aid and CPR/AED so that you have the skills to respond in an emergency before help arrives, especially during a disaster when emergency responders maybe delayed. Visit redcross.org/takeaclass for online and in-class offerings and to register.

DOWNLOAD RED CROSS APPS Download the Red Cross Emergency App to receive emergency alerts and information about what to do in case of emergencies, as well as locations of open Red Cross shelters. It is a single ?go-to? source for 14 different types of emergencies and disasters and allows users to notify loved ones who are in an affected area. Download the Monster Guard App so 7- to 11-year-olds will have a free, fun, gaming environment to learn how to prevent emergencies, like home fires, and how to stay safe if severe weather or natural disasters occur. People can download the apps for free in their app stores or at redcross.org/apps. You can also check out the Magnolia-Interbay-Queen Anne Emergency Preparedness Committee (MIQA EPC) here.

Fans of Magnolia author Mike Lawson’s Kay Hamilton books will be excited to hear that a third in the series will be released on?January 17. Lawson says in K Street,?Kay gets tangled up with a devious Chinese intelligence officer, the NSA, and one very good thief.

Mike will be signing books at Magnolia’s bookstore?Jan 28 from 3?4pm.? Click here for more information.

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Help those in need this winter by donating new or gently worn sweaters, coats and cold-weather gear to KCTS 9’s 20^TH annual Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive, from Friday, January 13 through Sunday, February 12. The donated items will benefit Wellspring Family Services, Queen Anne Helpline and Northwest Center.

Look for the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive collection bin at any PCC Natural Markets location or Sound Credit Union location in Western Washington; or drop your items off at KCTS 9‘s Seattle Center studio. All new or gently used adult and children’s sweaters and coats will be accepted.

KCTS 9 is also partnering with Uber to help those in need by making it easy to donate new or gently worn sweaters, coats and cold-weather gear at the touch of a button! On Saturday, February 11, Uber users can log into the app and request ‘Donate’ at the bottom of their screen. A driver will then be scheduled to pick up the donated clothing and deliver it directly to a local donation center – all for free!

 “All of us, at some time or other, need help,” said Fred Rogers. “Whether we’re giving or receiving a sweater, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors—in our way, everyone is a giver and receiver.”

KCTS 9 kicks off the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive this year with a free Be My Neighbor Day party on Friday, January 13 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm at the KCTS 9 studios, 401 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109.

At the party, guests are invited to honor the legacy of Mister Rogers and celebrate the many ways we can all be good neighbors. Guests will enjoy crafts and fun activities with community partners including Seattle Children’s Hospital, Vroom, Woodland Park Zoo, Wellspring Family Services, Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Science Center, Northwest Center, Cliff Bar, and Seattle Fire Department (SFD will be joining from 10 am -12 pm). Street Donuts will be selling donuts, hot cocoa and coffee—and they will donate a portion of the purchase price to the Sweater Drive. Plus, PBS Kids character Daniel Tiger from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood will be joining us for the day. Guests will have the chance to meet Daniel and take a photo with him.

To participate in the Be My Neighbor Day party, guests may register on the Eventbrite page.  Guests should bring a new or lightly used sweater to donate, or make a cash donation to the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive. Click here for details.

Fred Rogers began the sweater drive and inspired its spirit of generosity and neighborliness for six years before he passed away in 2003. KCTS 9 is honored to continue the program in his memory. Last year’s Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive collected more than 7,500 sweaters and coats!

Help those in need this winter by donating new or gently worn sweaters, coats and cold-weather gear to KCTS 9’s 20^TH annual Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive,?from Friday, January 13 through Sunday, February 12. The donated items will benefit Wellspring Family Services, Queen Anne Helpline and Northwest Center.

Look for the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive collection bin at any PCC Natural Markets location or Sound Credit Union location in Western Washington; or drop your items off at KCTS 9‘s Seattle Center studio. All new or gently used adult and children?s sweaters and coats will be accepted.

KCTS 9 is also partnering with Uber to help those in need?by making it easy to donate new or gently worn sweaters, coats and cold-weather gear at the touch of a button! On Saturday, February?11, Uber users can log into the app and request ‘Donate’ at the bottom of their screen. A driver?will then be scheduled to pick up the donated clothing and deliver it directly to a local donation center ? all for free!

??All of us, at some time or other, need help,? said Fred Rogers. ?Whether we?re giving or receiving a sweater, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That?s one of the things that connects us as neighbors?in our way, everyone is a giver and receiver.”

KCTS 9 kicks off the Mister Rogers? Neighborhood Sweater Drive this year with a free Be My Neighbor Day party on Friday, January 13 from 10:00 am ? 4:00 pm at the KCTS 9 studios, 401 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109.

At the party, guests?are?invited to honor the legacy of Mister Rogers and celebrate the many ways we can all be good neighbors. Guests will enjoy crafts and fun activities with community partners including Seattle Children?s Hospital, Vroom, Woodland Park Zoo, Wellspring Family Services, Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Science Center, Northwest Center, Cliff Bar, and Seattle Fire Department (SFD will be?joining from 10 am -12 pm). Street Donuts will be selling donuts, hot cocoa and coffee?and they will donate a portion of the purchase price to the Sweater Drive.?Plus, PBS Kids character Daniel Tiger from Daniel Tiger?s Neighborhood will be joining us for the day. Guests will have the chance to meet Daniel and take a photo with him.

To participate in the Be My Neighbor Day party, guests may register on the Eventbrite page.? Guests should bring a new or lightly used sweater to donate, or make a cash donation to the Mister Rogers? Neighborhood Sweater Drive. Click here for details.

Fred Rogers began the sweater drive and inspired its spirit of generosity and neighborliness for six years before he passed away in 2003. KCTS 9 is honored to continue the program in his memory. Last year’s Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive collected more than 7,500 sweaters and coats!

Love our neighborhood parks? Join Seattle Parks and Recreation at a Volunteer Information Fair to learn about?volunteer opportunities. Volunteers coach youth sports, help plant native trees in our parks, serve on various advisory councils and boards, and provide countless other services that allow us to have the first-rate park and recreation system that Seattle loves and depends on.

Parks and Recreation will be hosting a Volunteer Information Fair on January 25 from 12 to?3 p.m. at?Rainier Community Center (4600 38^th Ave. S), and on February 2 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Northgate Community Center (10510 5^th Ave. NE). Find out what opportunities are available, learn more about the jobs that volunteers do, ask questions and get registered as a volunteer on site. Plus, they will be serving a free lunch!

Representatives from several of?their units will also be on hand to describe? volunteer needs, including the Green Seattle Partnership, our Environmental?Learning Centers, Community Advisory Councils, Adopt a Park and more.

If you have questions or would like to sign up for this event, please call Cheryl Brown at 206-615-0619.

Seattle?s Talia Randle, a grocery bagger from Metropolitan Market here in Magnolia, recently proved that she is the state?s top grocery bagger, out-pacing eight other competitors for the state title in the Best Bagger Battle.

As the state champion, Randle will receive a $2,000 cash prize and an all-expense paid trip to compete this February at the 2017 National Grocers Association National Best Bagging Championship in Las Vegas. If she wins, Randle would be the fourth national champion from Washington state in five years!

This is the second win in a row for Metropolitan Market, which is also home to the national bagging champ, Candice Lastimado, a bagger in the West Seattle store.

Much of this bagging success is owed to Glen Hasstedt, the trainer of Met Market champion baggers and current Store Director of the Magnolia location.? The champions respond well to his coaching style and urges them to ? ?stay grounded and do your work, do not get overwhelmed? ? which happens to be great advice for life in general!? This is also the fourth time Met Market has won the state championship, with all of the winners being coached by Glen.

The Best Bagger Battle is held in October at the McGavick Conference Center at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, is sponsored by the Washington Food Industry Association Education Foundation. Each year, grocers from all over the state send their best grocery store baggers to compete in the challenge. Participants in the Best Bagger Battle compete in two rounds: the first, filling paper bags with groceries and the second, using reusable bags. Baggers are judged on a variety of factors, including overall speed time, bag building technique (damaged items, placement of crushable items, etc.) and style, attitude and appearance.