Washington, DC (October 29, 2007) — Thanks to a unique partnership between Save the Children and the American Red Cross, many of California's wildfire evacuation shelters were equipped with safe play areas that have allowed children to play, participate in structured activities and interact with other children in a secure environment.

The Save the Children / American Red Cross agreement, signed earlier this year, has allowed "Safe Space" kits to be mobilized to disaster-prone regions nationwide, ensuring that emergency shelters will have access to Safe Space materials as soon as a disaster strikes. 

Safe Space kits contain materials that can be used to set-up and establish a safe space within a shelter. These pre-packaged kits contain equipment to mark off a special area for children, activity supplies (such as art materials, books, games and toys), and other materials to assist children and families in a shelter environment. The structured, supervised activities offered in Safe Spaces are designed to strengthen children's resilience and help them begin to work through their emotions following a disaster.

Save the Children staffer Nino Acuna plays with 5-year-old Angelina at a shelter in Santee, Calif. Save the Children provided games and other safe play materials to the shelter where Angelina and her family are sheltered. This is the second evacuation for them during this fire. Their house was destroyed in the fires of 2003. And they do not know the status of their current home.

"Emergency shelters place children and their families in cramped quarters, in the midst of strangers, and lack toys, safe places to play and structured activities for children," said Mark Shriver, Vice President and Managing Director of Save the Children's U.S. Programs. "Through this partnership, children in evacuation shelters will be allowed to play, learn, socialize and express themselves under the supervision of a caring adult, giving them a sense of normalcy which can help them recover from the experience of weathering a disaster."