PlanItNow.org » About Us

Mission Statement

Founded after the devastating Hurricane Ivan hit Grenada in 2004, PLAN!T NOW provides scholarships to college students severely impacted by severe weather, funds for students to enter fields to find new ways to protect vulnerable coastal regions, creates public education campaigns and assists in rebuilding efforts.
PLAN!T NOW advocates empowerment of people through information and connection, and creates dialogue between people and organizations preparing for and dealing with natural and human-made disasters. Operating with the understanding that no matter where you live, a natural disaster can happen at any time, PLAN!T NOW advocates the power of preparedness.

Communities We Support

PLAN!T NOW is a non-profit organization that assists communities at risk of being negatively impacted by disasters including hurricanes and tropical storms, flooding, winter storms, earthquakes, fires and other natural and man-made disasters. Working with both public, government, nonprofit and private partners from fields as diverse as disaster relief, insurance, social work, disaster studies and meteorology, we disseminate important information that help those at risk of disasters prepare their families and communities. Using resources collected from expert sources, we provide vital information to the people and industries facing the greatest need from disasters is all of their forms.

In the United States, our work includes outreach to areas along the Southeast Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida, communities along the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas. In the Caribbean, our work has targeted areas that include Grenada, Aruba, Northern Antilles, St. Lucia, Barbados, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. In Central America, our work is aimed at those living on the Gulf Coast in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

The Goals of PLAN!T NOW

PLAN!T NOW educates not only the causes and dangers posed by severe weather but about how populations can prepare themselves for severe weather and other disasters year-round. We understand that education and communication are the keys to creating more knowledgeable and safer populations. With this in mind, we work with experts across the public, private and academic spectrums to better explain the risks of severe weather and other hazards and how simple steps can be taken to become better prepared.

We give scholarships to students whose lives have been affected by disasters and who will contribute to preparedness and severe weather studies in their communities, offering financial aid to help them continue their education. We also are working to underscore the role that families, especially children can have in community disaster preparedness.

One of PLAN!T NOW’s major initiatives is developing our Young Meteorologist Program, a online educational game adapted from an existing public education tool used by the National Weather Service. This game, which will be distributed in 2012 in coordination with PLAN!T NOW’s science and education partners, teaches students about the causes of seven types of severe weather – hurricanes, lightning, flooding, tornadoes, winter storms, earthquakes/tsunamis and fires.The goal of the game is to not only teach students how to prepare for each type of hazard, but to teach them how each forms and becomes dangerous. Kids will be asked to take the lessons they learn from the game and apply it in their communities, from creating public service projects to creating a larger network of young people across the country discussing preparedness.

Another major initiative of PLAN!T NOW is PREParation for Emergencies and Recovery, a project with UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work that creates a digital portal through which people with special needs and their families can create, store and update a personalized emergency plan for themselves and their families. “Disaster happens when preparation doesn’t.”

PLAN!T NOW is a 501(c)3 IRS designated, tax-exempt public charity.

P!NFeatured Allies

PLAN!T NOW has engaged several different organizations in alliances to further its mission of empowering hurricane-prone communities. Logos of our allies are shown below, and we have highlighted our associations with three major allies.

Scholarship America
Scholarship America has been developed to mobilize America, through scholarships and educational support – making postsecondary education possible for all students.In 1958, an optometrist in Fall River, Mass., had a simple but profound idea — if everyone in his community gave just a dollar to an educational fund, it would be enough to help nearly every student in the community who wanted to attend college. Dr. Irving Fradkin called his plan “Dollars for Scholars,” and it has expanded into what, today, is the nation’s largest non-profit, private-sector scholarship and educational support organization. Since its founding, Scholarship America has distributed more than $2 billion to nearly 2 million students across the country.

American Meteorological Society
Through an alliance with the American Meteorological Society (AMS), PLAN!T NOW receives research and statistical information on hurricanes. Dr. William H. Hooke, senior policy fellow and director of the Policy Program at the AMS, serves on PLAN!T NOW’s Chief Advisory Panel and helped foster relationships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and key officials at the National Hurricane Center (NHC). His office was instrumental in the development of the PSA Task Force and the structuring of information compiled for the storm-readiness PSAs. AMS is an important ally in P!N’s development of the Young Meteorologist Program, which is a computer game used to inspire children nationwide (ages 6-17) to become knowledgeable and excited about weather science and severe weather safety.

Sidley Austin, LLP
Serving on PLAN!T NOW’s Board of Directors is Michael A. Clark, a partner in the firm’s Tax Practice at Sidley Austin, LLP. Sidley is a global law firm with more than 1,800 lawyers in 16 offices that represent a broad range of clients including multinational and domestic corporations, government authorities, banks and financial institutions.Mr. Clark has extensive experience as tax counsel for tax-exempt organizations, including trade and professional associations. Sidley is PLAN!T NOW’s pro bono law firm for intellectual property matters and has a strong interest in the growth of PLAN!T NOW’s micro-loan programs. Additionally, Julia M. Chester, an intellectual property lawyer at Sidley, has served on the PLAN!T NOW Board of Directors and provides pro bono services to the organization.

P!NAllies