To address this gap in knowledge and action among parents and children, American Red Cross (ARC) created the Prepare with Pedro education program to teach children grades K-3 how to be prepared for and take action during emergencies or local hazards. 

The American Red Cross’s Prepare for Hurricanes public service announcement (PSA) campaign aimed to reach parents of children ages 5–10 in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida between July and October, 2025.   The Red Cross sought to understand whether the campaign improved parents’ recall of key messages, enhanced their knowledge of hurricane preparedness, and increased confidence in taking protective actions.  To accomplish this, they need support for rapid, evidence-based decision making, including measures of those short-term and medium-term campaign outcomes. The findings would help the organization refine future communications and educational strategies for families with young children.

NORC designed and implemented a cross‑sectional survey using the probability‑based AmeriSpeak Panel to assess campaign awareness and outcomes among 162 eligible parents across the three target states. Respondents completed a 31‑item survey between October 30 and November 25, 2025. All participants viewed the “Watch vs. Warning” PSA during the survey, enabling measurement of both unaided recall and immediate learning effects. 

NORC’s evaluation approach assessed multiple domains: hurricane preparedness knowledge, household preparedness behaviors, comprehension of campaign concepts, self‑efficacy, information sharing, and preparedness during a recent or potential future hurricane. The team applied rigorous cleaning, weighting, and descriptive analytic methods, stratifying findings by state and prior campaign exposure where sample sizes allowed.