By Jason Islas
Staff Writer

August 14, 2012 -- The Santa Monica Red Cross will be holding a car wash Saturday August 18 to raise funds to help prepare residents for future emergencies.

Residents wishing to get their cars cleaned while contributing to a good cause can bring their vehicles to 1450 11th Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. where Red Cross volunteers will clean them up for a small price: $10 for cars and $15 for SUVs.

“Vehicles will be lovingly cared for by a Red Cross volunteer, inside and out,” Red Cross officials said.

All funds raised will go to PrepareSoCal, the three-year American Red Cross, Los Angeles Region disaster response campaign.

“We’re raising money so that the City of Santa Monica will be more prepared,” said Jun Kim, community outreach coordinator with the Santa Monica Red Cross.

Proceeds will purchase more preparedness kits, emergency ID cards and will help pay for training volunteers and presenters who talk to the community about emergency preparedness, Kim said.

The funds will help “create more resilient communities that are better equipped to help each other prevent, prepare for and respond to life-threatening disasters,” officials said.

Aside from cleaning cars, volunteers will have baked goods, snacks and drinks available for $1 to $3 donations.

“There’ll also be watermelon,” Kim said.

Volunteers have gone to great lengths to make sure the carwash will be green, he added.

“The latest environmentally-friendly practices and sustainable materials will be employed during the washing process to make sure vehicles are cleaned without harm to the environment during the process,” officials said.

According to Jonathan Meng, a junior at Santa Monica High School who helped coordinate the event, O’Reilly’s Auto Parts on Lincoln Boulevard will be donating environmentally-friendly soaps for the car wash.

For more information visit the Santa Monica chapter of the Red Cross at http://redcrossla.org/santamonica.