Reflecting on Iowa Gives Green: Hope for the Future
posted
by Jordan Bles on Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Working on environmental issues requires a certain level of hope – especially when that work often happen in the face of evidence to the contrary. Hope that our waterways can be cleaner. Hope that we can respond to the impacts of climate change. Hope that the natural beauty of our state can be restored and protected.
It's days like Iowa Gives Green that sustain that hope.
Wednesday, August 4, was the first Iowa Gives Green: A Day of Giving to Protect Iowa’s Environment. It is just the kind of coalition work that came together, putting our money where our mouth is to make an impact, that gives me hope for the work ahead.
It was the coalition of organizations that came together and said yes to being a part of the day. It was a reminder of just how broad, expansive, and diverse the environmental movement in Iowa is. From groups like the Great Plains Action Society, an indigenous-led group seeking restoration of land and its protection, to Trees Forever, doing amazing work statewide in continued response to the Derecho, to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, and the educational and sustainability work that they do. This group of 17 organizations showed me just how expansive the environmental movement in Iowa really is.
Next, the response from donors and the people of Iowa. More than 200 donations. More than $25,000 raised across those organizations. Trying something like this for the first time, that kind of a response was amazing. It tells me just how committed Iowans are to seeing their water protected, to seeing us move to a clean energy future, to protecting lands and restoring Iowa’s soil health.
We will see you all again on August 3, 2022, for our next Iowa Gives Green. And, let's be honest, we will see a lot of one another other between now and then as we go about the work we came together to support and make possible. I, for one, can’t wait to see what we accomplish between now and then, and to see just how much we can grow together.
Thanks for being a part of this movement.