Dear Friends,

Our community and its environment are under attack from all sides - from across the globe due to climate change, and from across the United States by dangerous and regressive policies coming out of Washington.

Now, more than ever, California Greenworks needs your help to do something about these threats.

California Greenworks strives to improve the quality of life in communities across South Los Angeles by promoting environmental protection that cleans the air and water supply, by educating and inspiring children and youth, and by the community revitalization that comes from that work.

But, our work here can be wiped out by global and nation-wide forces from the outside:

1. The research is indisputable - here in the U.S., climate change and global warming will have the most negative impacts on low-income urban communities of color, the kind of communities in which California Greenworks works.

2. On top of that, we are living through the most anti-environment and divisive politics in a generation - climate change deniers want to cut clean energy programs (and the good jobs they bring) and promote the use of coal, as well as relax regulations on the industrial pollution that hits our communities especially hard.

3. At the same time, political demagogues pit one group in America against another as they seek to consolidate their power and blame others for our country's problems.

So why help California Greenworks do our thing here in South LA when all the threats are coming from elsewhere?

Simple: meaningful change begins at the local level, when communities join forces and work together to improve things one neighborhood at a time. It's always been our collaborative work here that makes a difference on a national and global level.

You, too, can make a difference in your community by improving the quality of life for your family, friends and neighbors by helping us partner with all kinds of other community-based organizations to put programs and projects into action across South Los Angeles.

It can be as simple as planting a tree, cleaning up a waterway, teaching a child about nature, or lending a hand to restore a wildlife habitat. Just a few dollars of your support will last for years and go a long way to improve the quality of life for everybody.

* When we restore and clean up waterways, we are one part of a much bigger effort to create a more sustainable and prosperous future.

* When we teach elementary school kids about protecting the environment, we are one part of a much bigger effort to resist those who would divide us and pollute our community.

* When we plant a tree in a densely populated urban community, we are telling Washington that if they don't do anything about climate change, we will.

Sure, protecting the environment is a daunting challenge that seems overwhelming. But every important social change and environmental justice movement, every effort worth doing, every fight for our future and our children's futures, begins in our own neighborhoods.

Please help California Greenworks fight the fight and do good work here in South LA. Help us show the rest of the world that our community is committed to a sustainable environment and a prosperous future. Help us prove that working together we can make a difference.

With your commitment and support, we can do it.
Thank you for listening and giving.

Sincerely,

California Greenworks Team