The Pillowcase Project is designed for students to create their own emergency kit inside of a pillow case, the project provides the opportunity to talk to kids aged eight to 10 about making their own emergency plan.

All Merimbula Public School all the Year 3 and 4 pupils participated in the event run by Red Cross emergency service volunteers where they were given some tips that could help save their lives in case of an emergency.

On the Australian Red Cross website it says that “while vulnerable to disasters, children also have considerable strengths which they can draw on before, during and after an emergency”.

To help build children's knowledge, skills and confidence to act in times of adversity, Red Cross run a disaster resilience education program, called the Pillowcase Project.

The children were given the opportunity to discuss what could happen in an emergency situation and what they can do to stay calm. 

They were then split into groups where they discussed what they as a group would pack in their emergency pillowcase. 

It was here that the children showed incredible maturity. In one group, there was one child that said they take medication each day, and despite the fact that the medication would only benefit one child, all the other kids in the group agreed it was the top item on their list of priorities.

The children decorated a pillowcase each – provided through a partnership between Red Cross and Disney –  before taking it home to fill it up with everything they’d need in the case of an emergency.