American Red Cross Launches Emergency Radio Promotion

The American Red Cross is partnering with radio manufacturer Etón Corporation and leading retailer RadioShack to help people prepare for emergencies and stay informed after a disaster by offering a discount on emergency crank radios.

“An emergency radio is an essential part of any emergency preparedness kit, and we hope that by offering savings to consumers, we’ll inspire individuals to make the decision to be better prepared and stay informed for any type of emergency,” said Esmail Amid-Hozour, CEO of Etón Corporation.

People often rely on powered sources to get information after a disaster hits, but due to power outages, these resources may become unavailable for extend periods of time. An emergency radio—one that is crank, solar or battery operated—can become a vital resource to staying informed after a disaster.

As part of its partnership with the Red Cross, Etón is offering consumers a coupon for a 10% discount on any Red Cross emergency radio purchased at RadioShack through September 30, 2009. During the same timeframe, Etón Corporation will donate an additional 10% of the purchase price to the Red Cross for each radio purchased with the coupon at Radio Shack. Etón already makes a contribution of between $0.49 and $1 to the Red Cross for each radio sold.

“American Red Cross emergency radios make it easy to take another step toward preparing for the unexpected,” said Jennifer Niyangoda, Director of Corporate Partnerships for the American Red Cross. “We appreciate the effort of Etón and Radio Shack to help consumers prepare while supporting the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross.”

The American Red Cross currently offers a line of six emergency radios ranging in price from $30 to $150. All radios are crank, solar and battery powered and equipped with AM/FM and NOAA weather channels, a flashlight and a cell phone charger.

The Etón promotion is part of the American Red Cross Do More than Cross Your Fingers public awareness and cause marketing campaign that is being launched in September to help people prepare for emergencies.