Thank you all who attended the Sleep Out last weekend!
For those of you who couldn’t, you missed a great time! We had almost 70 students from across the state right here in Worcester!
We rallied on Worcester Common where we heard from Ted McIntyre, President of the board of MCAN; Susan Champeny, a local artist who painted a CFL lighbulb sculpture for National Grid; and students Chris Freida and Chris McDermott from SJSF. We then marched carrying climate change banners to Institute Park with cars honking in support all the way.
At 9PM in Institute park we were joined by our senator from Worcester, Harriette Chandler, who spoke about the importance of being politically involved. We also heard from gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein. WPI Pastor John Longworth wrapped up the evening with a funny, but serious talk about climate change and how its impacting our lives right now and the moral imperative we have to do something about it.
In the morning we went to the Massachusetts Climate Action Network’s conference and learned about ways to take action locally, nationally, and politically.
So on that thread, I hope you can join us for our next big events: Climate Change Awareness on election day (Nov 2.) and the Pricing Carbon Conference (Nov 19-21.) Both Bill McKibben and James Hansen will be there! SJSF has worked out a deal with the Pricing Conference organizers so we can get in cheap.
Hope to see you there!
Onwards and Upwards,
Linnea Palmer Paton
SJSF Co-State Political Coordinator
WPI 2011
Here’s what Wellesley students liked about the sleepout:
“The Statewide sleepout was beyond incredible! The speakers were inspirational and the members were surprisingly tenacious. The sleepout reminded me that I can truly make a difference through SJSF!” –April Bello
The sleepout was an absolutely inspirational and empowering experience for me. It is amazing to be with so many young people who are taking responsibility for their future and committing themselves to working for real, sustainable change, and I am so excited to keep the momentum going! –Heron Russell
The SJSF rally and sleep-out this past Saturday at the Worcester Common and Institute Park were both incredible! It was my first sleep-out, and I really didn’t know what to exactly to expect. I was blown away by the number of students that came, and the amount of enthusiasm everyone had for the rally and sleep-out! Climate change and the elimination of dirty sources of energy production are such important issues, and I am so glad to see so many young people organizing to take action against them. Thank you to the people who did incredible organizing! I will be there for the next sleep-out! –Elli Blaine
The sleepout made me feel like I was truly doing something to stop global climate change! It was the first time I had ever done something like this and it was the most invigorating experience!!! I will definitely do it again. –Stephanie Gebhardt