On September 10th, 2004, Secretary Tom Ridge with the Department of Homeland Security declared that the month be National Preparedness Month. Partnering with the Stanford Medical Blood Center, the American Red Cross student club of Stanford University and Palo Alto Area Red Cross hopes that the Stanford campus and community learns more about the five steps of preparedness: Make a Plan, Build a Kit, Get Trained, Give Blood and Volunteer. A Preparedness Blood Drive scheduled on September 29th 2004 from 10:00am-4:00pm at White Plaza will have volunteers distributing preparedness information with the hopes that every community member will be able to be self-sufficient for 72 hours after a major disaster.