Regeneration Pajaro Valley a finalist in Climate Leadership Award

Regeneration (Regeneración Pajaro Valley Climate Action) is one of ten finalists for the American Climate Leadership Awards 2020! This recognition guarantees a $10,000 minimum grant award. This award also qualifies Regeneration to receive runner-up and/or winner grant awards ($25,000/ $50,000).

Selected from among 200 original applicants and 34 semi-finalists, many with a national reach, including Calpirg and Sunrise Movement.

Key Criteria: Organizations serving diverse populations, replicability, and evidence of developing political will for solutions.

This is the second National recognition to a Watsonville based group in 2 weeks! Jacob Martinez, Executive Director and Founder of the Digital Nest, recently received the 2020 James Irvine Leadership Award.

AWARD:

The American Climate Leadership Awards “recognizes and rewards the best efforts that demonstrated success in mobilizing public support and political will for climate organizing.”

CLIMATE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT: Finalists receive a trip for two and admission to the American Climate Leadership Summit on March 25-26 in Washington, DC, where the finalists will share their work and awards will be presented to the first and second place winners. An audience of 500 is expected.

Gina McCarthy, past head of Federal EPA, will hand out the awards.

“Before a national audience, we are bringing recognition of farmworkers and the Pajaro Valley community as being on the frontlines of climate change.”
Nancy Faulstich, Executive Director/ Regeneration

The summit will include breakout groups focusing on youth, faith, communities, and health where Regeneration’s team will network with climate change leaders from across the country.

What Regeneration brings to this summit that is unique to our organization:

We appear to be the only group representing a semi-rural, agricultural community with a large Mexican immigrant population.

We have had great success uniting local politicians and leaders in education, health, environment, and social services around our vision of climate justice: everyone in the Pajaro Valley thriving in harmony with the natural world.

We hope to inspire other communities to build place-based, climate action groups that are representative of the local population and that educate and engage residents in action.

Our Core Beliefs:

The future of our agricultural community is uncertain:

Each of us can make a difference. What we collectively do – or don’t do – in the next few years will likely determine outcomes for humanity for 1000’s of years.

People need to understand the stakes are very high – large parts of the Earth are becoming unlivable.  Climate change has caused a public health crisis.

We need to bring large numbers of people into agreement that we will work together to protect a livable planet, even if we don’t agree on all the sub issues.

We need to keep connecting all issues to climate change.

This is a climate emergency, but it’s not receiving adequate attention from the press and public.

The Pajaro Valley is at risk:

▪     Rising sea level and salt water intrusion into wells

▪     More frequent and more severe droughts

▪     Extreme heat, especially affecting farmworkers, children in schools, the elderly, people without homes.

▪     Wildfire smoke

▪     Potential for flooding from storms

▪     Changes in the types of crops that can be grown here

People are not separate from the environment. We need to connect all human activity to the environments in which they take place.

Our current work:

Heat Stress Awareness and Prevention Campaign is underway. Volunteers interested in viewing our slideshow and receiving handouts to share with family, neighbors, friends can contact us at 831-288-7755 or email office@regenerationpajarovalley.org

Farmworker Interviews: We are finishing up a small sample of interviews with farmers about how they are experiencing environmental changes.

Speaking Engagements: We are speaking in many different venues about how the changing climate connects to immigration, agriculture, social justice, and other topics.

Earth Day Youth Rally: We’re preparing to host a Youth Climate rally on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day: Wednesday, April 22, 2-5 pm at the Watsonville Plaza. We welcome all young people – preschool to college – to speak at an Open Mic.

Call to Action: If you can donate frequent flyer miles or cash to cover expenses for our team to attend the summit, we enthusiastically welcome your support.

About Do Good

Do Good is a free service open to help nonprofit agencies on the Central Coast promote their services or events. Press releases provided by charities are posted verbatim. Postings on Do Good do not necessarily reflect the views of Voices of Monterey Bay.