For 26 years, WiRED International has operated our global programs with volunteers.
While most nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations rely on salaried staff to create and carry out their work,
WiRED depends on volunteers
As governments around the world rightly focus on the growing COVID-19 outbreak, we need to be mindful of a variety of other existential threats that will not disappear with a cure or a vaccine. The most evident threat is climate change; throughout the next decades, it will severely impact every aspect of life, including human health. In this article, one of our young writers shares her passionate concern, and her words remind us that her generation faces huge challenges even after the COVID-19 issue resolves.
People of all ages are impacted by COVID-19. One of WiRED International’s young volunteers recently interviewed six high school students (aged 16-18) to hear their perspectives on the coronavirus. The following summarized her findings — mixed in with her own opinions.
As the coronavirus pandemic grows, schools throughout the United States and all over the world are closing and making plans for long-distance learning.
Contributing to online education, WiRED International, a U.S.-based non-profit, is offering a free access training package that provides students with a close look at the coronavirus and several related health topics.
The New York Times recently ran a piece called “One Thing You Can Do: Talk to Your Children about Climate Change.” The article encouraged parents not only to talk to their children but to get them involved in solutions to the dangers of climate change.
“Our house is on fire — let’s act like it. We demand climate justice for everyone.” So say the world’s youth as they stage a week-long Global Climate Strike event September 20–27 to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. Students across our threatened Earth are walking out of school on September 20 to save the planet for their future and for future generations to come. Many school systems in New York City and elsewhere are giving permission for students to leave class, and companies from Amazon to Ben & Jerry’s plan to close their doors for part of the day in solidarity.
My name is Olivia Spirito. I am presently a senior in high school, and I am a volunteer at WiRED. I believe that climate change is putting my generation and future generations at risk. Weather-related threats such as floods, hurricanes, droughts and forest fires will cause environments to become inhospitable. The lives of people who survived the recent forest fires in California (November 2018), the destructive Alabama tornado (March 2019) and the current raging flood in Afghanistan have been drastically changed forever. It is my hope that I and my future family will have a chance to live comfortably without the fear of uncontrollable factors like these catastrophic events.