Greetings Friends and Neighbors!
A new year is upon us and we hope it finds you well! You may have noticed the long gap between updates from the Central Colorado Climate Coalition, and we (the CCCC board members) have been discussing what is next for us as an organization, and how we can continue to best serve our valley. We are a group of DOERS and every one of us has other roles in the community on other boards, as volunteers, and in jobs that take up a significant amount of our time. The reality is, this past 6 months has been thankfully free of local critical issues with short deadlines, yet also very busy for us in our personal lives. Putting together Earth Day on the scale that we did last year was a solid four months of demanding work and coordination, and while we are so proud of the community support and crowd we generated last year, it was also very draining, and we were disappointed that it didn’t inspire a new wave of volunteers, or new board members hoping to join our organization. As a result, we’ve had to ask ourselves some tough questions: Where do we go from here? Do we have the physical capacity to continue leading this coalition?
The short answer is that of course we would like to continue to be a resource for local people that care about climate change, but also, that due to time, age, and health issues, we are no longer truly able to do so without more help. If you have been hoping to join us as a board member, volunteer, or monthly supporter, now is the time to speak up, or this will be our last year as an operating 501c3. Fill out our volunteer form here: https://forms.gle/V4LtBhm5pNPRr1k9A
Taking Stock:
The Central Colorado Climate Coalition started over a decade ago, as a local branch of 350 Colorado, and our mission in those earlier years was clearly to educate the public on the reality of climate change. However, the world has evolved, and the question of if and why climate change exists has since been accepted as a grim reality: It is human caused, and humans have the responsibility of doing something about it. As we’ve necessarily moved in the direction of “ So what can we do about climate change locally?” we’ve found ourselves confronting huge issues like fighting multi-national corporation, Nestle Waters, speaking out against the oil-industry-backed Uinta Basin Railroad project, and trying desperately to convince local politicians that we need a functional sustainability committee in our county government. All of these issues require intense amounts of research, writing, coordination with the media and governmental organizations, and hardest of all, getting a critical mass of volunteers to show up at the same place, and same time, to push for change in whatever very specific way each issue needs.
To say it has been a lot of work is an understatement. It’s a big ask for volunteers of retirement age, and also for working community members busy attending to their lives. The collective sentiment from our board and potential volunteers is “I want to do something, but I just don’t have the time or energy right now,” and we’ve had to accept that. This will be our final year as the Climate Coalition unless we get a wave of new volunteers willing to continue our work.
However, we are not the sort of people to go out without a fight, and so we’ve decided to host our Earth Day Celebration and Parade For the Species one more time. So YES there will be an Earth Day festival in the Arkansas Valley this year, but in a way that is more manageable for us. We are still finalizing the details, but will announce them here in coming weeks
If you would like to participate as a speaker or organization, include your organization’s event or work in the promotion materials, or volunteer with us in any way, please email our volunteer coordinator, Angie Thompson at climatecolorado@gmail.com or fill out our short volunteer form here: https://forms.gle/V4LtBhm5pNPRr1k9A
We thank you for your years of support and look forward to continuing to work together for a more sustainable Arkansas Valley!
– The Central Colorado Climate Coalition Board
Central Colorado Climate Coalition 