Dear Friends,
As I write to you, I’m thinking of the stream that runs through the grove behind my house, now dry. I’ve been cutting honeysuckle out of that grove, in the hopes of planting native diversified species and watching the understory thrive one day. I imagine sitting in the grove reading a book and watching birds and butterflies flit around, grabbing fruit from trees above me. I imagine the stream rushing once again.
The reality is that sometimes the smell of fertilizer on nearby cropland and the scent of a neighboring egg CAFO make the prospect of spending time outdoors unbearable. As a farmer, I have used a face mask in order to protect myself from COVID, wildfire smoke, and noxious fumes.
The outdoors should be a safe and nourishing home to people and wildlife, and Iowa Interfaith Power & Light is working hard to ensure that future. Spending time with the youth in our Called to Climate Action program, I am assured that there is a generation of young people of faith committed to education and policy change that supports human and planet health. After a session of our Faith Farms and Climate program, hearing from a group of ELCA ministers, I know there are faith leaders committed to supporting and mobilizing congregants to take climate action, from daily acts like recycling and planting prairie to larger movements like the Clean Up MidAm campaign to shut down MidAmerican Energy’s coal fleet.
We have the will, and we are getting organized.
Your donation makes this work possible. You help us book space, feed our people, pay our staff, develop youth programming. You are vital to this work, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to grow and make change alongside you. Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
Elston Tortuga (they/them)
Rural Faith Organizer, Iowa Interfaith Power & Light