Image
3 more ways to support a just response to COVID-19 and climate this week

To support our allies and community partners working with communities impacted by COVID-19, we are compiling a weekly COVID and climate email filled with ways you can take action. In this current time of physical distancing, many of us have been forced to reorient our lives, think creatively, and be open to new ways of organizing and problem solving. We hope that this weekly digest will empower you and others by sharing meaningful ways to act. If you have any feedback or suggestions for a future digest, please send an email to jonathan.gates@climatesolutions.org

Support your local domestic violence shelter

purple-awareness-ribbon.pngSafe housing is an integral part of environmental justice. The travel and social restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased isolation, which is a vulnerability frequently exploited by domestic abusers. Worldwide, domestic violence shelters have reported a major increase in calls for assistance, and these nonprofit organizations rely on private donations to keep their doors open. 

Find your local shelter:

Help keep students fed in your community

sandwich.pngSchool lunches are an important nutrition source for children of struggling families. With schools out due to COVID-19, Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon is seeking donations to provide meals for students out of school. Click here for a list of participating school districts.

Give blood

blood-donation.pngA majority of blood donations usually come from group blood drives, but COVID-19 has caused the cancellation of thousands of blood drives around the Northwest. The Red Cross is seeking more donors to meet the constant need for blood.

Stay safe out there, and thank you for all you do.
 

Author Bio

Photo of Jon Lee
Jonathan Lee

Storytelling and Digital Engagement Manager, Climate Solutions

Jonathan Toshio Lee (pronouns: he/him) is passionate about sharing people- and solutions-centric stories that educate and inspire positive change. He has over twelve years of experience developing communications strategies, creating multimedia content, advocating for sound public policy, and promoting equity, diversity, and social justice. 

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, the importance of protecting the environment was instilled in him at a young age. Jonathan heeded the call to address the climate crisis as a teenager after watching Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006), after which he sought to reduce his own climate pollution, wrote to his elected officials to support climate policy and pollution reduction, and began to volunteer in the conservation movement. Jonathan is a graduate of Willamette University with a degree in sociology and ethnic studies, which helped equip him to analyze the numerous intersections of climate, environmental justice, and public discourse. 

Before joining the Climate Solutions team in 2019, Jonathan worked in the crime victims' services field and served as a board member and volunteer with OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon.

Give for a brighter future

Did you enjoy this article?