Climb-A-Thon Fundraiser
“We need to not wait until we are the grownups, because I’m scared it will be too late.”
– Dylan, 3rd grader
While the news about climate change can be really unsettling, working together to make a difference can be inspiring, and even fun.
It started with Dylan Beckett, a third grader in Portland. “I was hearing scary things on the news that made me worry about the planet,” explains Dylan “I felt like I really wanted to do something.” After doing some of his own research, Dylan approached us and asked if he and a group of schoolmates he recruited could organize an event to support our climate work.
The result? The kids came up with a Climate Climb-A-Thon that has Dylan and his fellow elementary school students (and his principal!) as the climbers. The kids are looking for people to sponsor their climb, with 100% of the proceeds going toward the grassroots climate movement building work we are doing. The Climb-A-Thon will take place on April 4th, at Portland Rock Gym.
Please consider making a donation (any amount!) to sponsor this terrific and completely youth-driven effort and help make it a success for these inspiring young activists, for us, and ultimately for all of our children and grandchildren.
How to sponsor our brave young climate climbers:
You can donate online through PayPal using the button below. No PayPal account is needed. If you’d like to sponsor a specific climber, please enter their name in the comment box. You can also donate by check, please make payable to 350 PDX, with “climb4climate” written on the check subject line. Checks can be sent to P.O. Box 5692, Portland, OR 97228.
Dylan believes what we believe: although it’s an urgent situation, we can still make a difference.
“When I first started,” explains Dylan, “my goal was to help more people know about climate change, and raise money to help stop it. I still am wanting those things, but now there’s also something else—I want to show people that even if you’re a kid, if you’re worried, you can do something. You can help.”
Are you inspired enough to get more involved yourself? If so please contact us at 350pdx@gmail.com.
Let’s show Dylan and his schoolmates that he’s absolutely right, that doing something seemingly small, like an elementary school Climb-a-Thon, can have a big impact.
Here’s what more of what Dylan’s schoolmates had to say:
“I think the Climb-a-Thon is a good idea, because if kids care about something then I hope grownups will care too. With the Climb-a-Thon we can do something good and have a good time while we’re doing it!”
– Jonathan, 3rd grade
“I think we should know how to have a world that is good for all the people and the animals, so everyone can feel safe where they live. I hope by helping stop climate change we can make things safer.”
– Ruby, 3rd grader
“Kids are the next generation—so we need to make sure we’re taking care of it now. I hope the Climb-a-Thon helps people get more aware of what’s happening, and what we need to do to slow climate change down. And for people to see that kids really care about it.”
– Maisie, 6th grader
“Global warming is changing everything—so much ice is melting, and that’s really bad. I want to make sure kids especially know about it, because if kids know, then that’s a whole new generation, and they will tell their kids, and they will do things different. I hope the Climb-a-Thon will make people see that kids care about it a lot.”
– Sofia, 4th grader
“We have been studying weather in school, and climate change and global warming are really important because it is affecting everywhere. I want to raise money and tell people that it really is a problem, and how they can help.”
– Tegan, 2nd grader
“We need to know how to do things so our weather stays in the middle—not too hot and not too cold. I think it’s good that kids are doing the Climb-a-Thon. We have so much more energy, we’ll be able to climb a lot more, and raise more money!”
– Micah, 3rd grader
“I want to make sure that I can live on an earth that has clean air and clean water, with good living conditions for everyone. Kids need to be involved because it’s our planet too, and we are living on it, and we need to know what’s going on and what to do.”
– Miranda, 4th grader
