Swim for the Climate
My name is Dylan Beckett; I live in Portland and I am in sixth grade.
When I started school, I was hearing all these scary things on the news—things like ice caps melting, and weather changing, and animals going extinct—that made me worry about the planet. People always say, “even if you do something small, it can have a big effect,” and I felt like I wanted to do something. So in third grade, I decided to do a Climb-a-Thon for Climate Change. We raised almost $3500 for 350PDX, a non-profit that works to help stop climate change.
With everything happening in the world this year, I felt like it was time to do another event. So this year I’m organizing Laps for Life—a Swim for the Climate. Kids from all of the grades at my school will get sponsors and then swim laps at Columbia Pool on Earth Day weekend to help raise money. 350PDX has also set up a donation page for the event, so other people who don’t have a swimmer to sponsor can donate too.
When I first started, my goal was to help more people know about climate change, and to do something to help stop it. I think that maybe if grown-ups see that kids care about climate change, maybe they will think about it too. And, I also want kids to know, even if you’re not a grown-up, if you’re worried, you can do something. The problems feel really big but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do. You can help.
If you want to talk about Laps for Life, you can email me at drcatb@gmail.com (it’s my mom’s email since I don’t have one). Or you can call my mom Catherine Beckett at 503-319-8998 and just say that the message is for me. I would really be happy for people to know what we are doing.
Thank you,
From Dylan Beckett
Age 11
