Our beautiful west coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California are on fire. Climate change driven wildfire season hits us harder each year. I’ve long been anxious about these worsening summers. But I never imagined having to stay inside my Seattle apartment to avoid toxic air (and ours is not nearly as bad as our friends in other parts of the state, Oregon, and California, comparatively). I’m beyond words at this point, so I’ll leave the rest of the talking to the groups and organizations below who have taken the time to compile resources for wildfire relief, whether it be to help victims, animals, and firefighters directly or help combat climate change. Here’s how you can help:
Photo by João Barbosa
Good good good co
One of my favorite Instagram accounts, good news newspaper @goodgoodgoodco, compiled a helpful slideshow of ways to help in the midst of west coast wildfires. It’s a nice introductory resource for those who live afar as well–it’s so difficult to know what’s really going on in places you are not physically! Read it here.
Pnwonderland
Instagram community @pnwonderland has been incredibly active in supporting relief efforts these past few weeks. They recently held an auction to raise money for a local Relief fund (proceeds go to Red Cross) and have also compiled an amazing Google doc full of Oregon wildfire resources. Lastly, if you go through the comments on this post, you’ll see all the local resources community members shared. I could probably end this article here with all the resources they’ve already shared (including ways to track fires and air quality throughout the region) but I’ll share a couple other links I’ve come across!
Gofundme
Gofundme has set up their own Wildfire Relief Fund, which has raised almost $300,000 so far! The page also contains links to more specific fundraisers if you are looking to contribute to a particular community’s effort.
Future Earth
I really appreciate how Steph and Max of @futureearth broke down California’s record heatwaves and wildfires in this post and this post from a couple of weeks ago. Climate disasters are such a huge, complex concept that I understand why it is so difficult to grasp how we can actually *do* something about them. Understanding the cause & fallout is key. Give this account a follow to continue learning about climate change and what we can do (particularly in terms of legislature) about it.
Red Rover
Red Rover compiled a list of animal resources for west coast wildfires where you can explore resources by region. Read here.
PNW friends, you can follow @NWCCinfo on twitter for continuing updates on all things wildfires.
If you know more wildfire relief resources for individual communities throughout California, Oregon, and Washington, please tag us on Instagram @ecoclubofficial so we can share. We’d love to see how we can donate (money, time, or clothing/household goods) directly to victims.
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