With September being National Preparedness Month, the Kent Home Depot will be holding a Saturday morning workshop focusing on emergency preparedness.

The program will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Home Depot, 26120 104th Ave SE, Kent.

On hand will be information on personal preparedness, CERT training available in both Kent and Auburn areas, as well as how individuals can prepare themselves and their families over the next year.

Pacific Mayor Richard Hildreth helped organize the event, partially in thanks to the assistance that Home Depot Recovery Teams following the flooding in January of 2009. Home Depot responded to Pacific with teams equipped with pumps, blowers and other tools needed to help clean up homes that were flooded.

Hildreth, who has gained national recognition for his work in emergency management and preparedness, will lead participants through the process of creating their own emergency plans.

Hildreth serves on the Washington State Emergency Management Council, is certified by FEMA as a CERT, ICS and COOP instructor, a master exercise practitioner and is currently writing a training program for elected officials as part of the master trainer program. In 2009, he won a Risk Innovator Award from Risk and Insurance Magazine, has published a number of articles nationally and was an invited speaker at the 2009 National Council on Community Preparedness.