In a contest launched Friday, San Diego Girl Scouts will scramble to register tens of thousands of people for AlertSanDiego, the County’s emergency mass notification system.
The first 2,000 scouts to register 10 people will snag their own two-person camping tent, donated by Target.
What about those kids who don’t want to stop at 10? (After all, we’re talking about girls with appetites for competition fed by seasons of tough cookie contests.)
Target will also throw a pizza party for the three troops who register the most people. The chain will give each girl in those troops an emergency preparedness kit, too.
“Girl Scouts are known for their dedication to their community, and we’re grateful they’re applying their youthful energy to register their neighbors with AlertSanDiego,” said County Office of Emergency Services Director Holly Crawford. “Their help comes at an important time, when more and more people are relying on their mobile phones but may not have registered them yet.”
AlertSanDiego is the regional system that sends telephone notifications to residents and businesses impacted by an emergency or disaster. It has been activated to notify residents of everything from mandatory evacuations during a wildfire to boil water orders during last year’s widespread blackout.
The system uses the region’s 9-1-1 database, which contains listed and unlisted landline telephone numbers provided by local telephone companies.
But anyone who wants notifications by cell phone, Voice Over IP phone or email needs to register their number or email address with the system.
The tent campaign is just the latest instance of San Diego Girl Scouts helping their neighbors and the Office of Emergency Services. Since 2006, San Diego County Girl Scouts have earned Emergency Preparedness Patches by delivering copies of the Family Disaster Plan and Personal Survival Guide to thousands of households.
The registration contest will culminate with the 2,000-tent distribution event sometime in July, and no doubt local troops will embark on some well-appointed camping trips shortly after that.
In the meantime, if you need to register your phone or email address with AlertSanDiego, ask that Girl Scout on your block if she’s in the contest. If you’re a Girl Scout or parent of a scout who hasn’t heard about the contest, there’s more information here.
And if you don’t have the good fortune to know a Girl Scout, you can also register for AlertSanDiego.
