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Uprise Camp 2020


 Support Youth Leadership 
 in the Climate Movement! 
.

Uprise Camp, and the year-long Youth Action Alliance that grew out of it, is about fun educational experiences, direct actions, and youth social movement organizing, period. Uprise teens and highschool students are creative, smart, committed, and just amazing, and people are hearing of them all over the country. 

They’re working to unify local social movements in tangible ways. They are organizing their peers into this fight for our collective futures and they need your support. They love their one week in a place where they can gather and make plans, have tons of fun with new friends, hone their skills and understanding, and break out, re-energized and ready to roll. If you've ever said something good about the work youth are doing please contribute what you can. Your financial support, time, and encouragement are all really important and appreciated..


 WHAT WE'RE PLANNING FOR 2020 

Think awesome, fun summer camp in Vermont plus direct action and huge artworks, staffed by grassroots organizers from around the country, fiercely independent smart teenagers, and a lot of camper involvement in the decisions made about everything we do. It’s held at the Center for Grassroots Organizing, a new social movement and regenerative agriculture center on 175 acres of hilltop in rural Vermont. Uprise Camp is one of the most beautifully touching, fun, and inspiring things I've ever seen. 

Our friends around the region and around the world are already adapting and innovating actions to be safe but still effective in these times. Help us have the resources Uprise campers need to keep this work going ready and waiting for them when they are. 


 How We Use Your Support 

We pay our mentors on a progressive scale, provide great food for the kids from local farms, and bring in the arts and action supplies that make Uprise Camp what it is. All the staff hours that go into the planning are donated. The staff and youth of this camp commit tons of time and energy to make this happen. Please give a little if you can.  Uprise Camp - CHECK US OUT! 

Also, consider volunteering! Write to: [email redacted]


 WHAT HAPPENS AFTER CAMP 
Not only is camp fun, but a little inspiration and empowerment goes a long way. Here's a look at just the last 8 months since camp:

* August 2nd, 2019 Uprise Youth Action Camp stormed the VT Agency of Education and demanded an education for the crisis. Then they held an hour-long blockade of the biggest intersection in the capital, just 30 teenagers (and one elder helping out with the very agitated law enforcement). It was each of their first day leading an action like this. They put out the call for a mass action in Montpelier for the Global Youth Strike on September 20th.

* On September 20, 2019 the brand-new Youth Action Alliance, which was the name the Uprise Campers and their school-year organizing teams adopted, came back to the Capitol with 500 people and shut the city down completely for 3-4 hours for Climate Justice. They marched down the main transportation artery in the VT State Capitol, calling the shots, dancing to their own playlist on their own rolling PA, and occupied Main Street in Downtown for the second time in 2 months (and the second time ever!). Die-ins, speak outs, banners, teenagers making it all happen.

* October 17-19 Youth organized and occupied the VT Statehouse Grounds at The Climate Encampment for Youth, Education, and Agriculture. Youth proposed it and collaborated with migrant allies, climate direct action groups, and farmers for a 3 Day occupation and action camp full of street parties, workshops, democratic peoples' assemblies, farm animals, resistance, and resilience.

* January 9th they put their foot down on Governor Phil Scott's biggest day of the year. The Republican Governor is part of the National blockade against life-saving climate policy and tax-breaks for the rich, and when he strode into the room like the Queen of England they risked arrest and shut Governor Scott down. They faced down dozens of uniformed VT State Troopers—many kids for the first time—and demanded their rights to a livable future,  "the truth", fairness for migrant farmworkers, and a lot more.


 What Happens If There’s No Camp? 

We know that we don’t know what the next few months will bring. The longer it takes, the more this precise kind of work will be needed. The Grassroots Center and the Youth Action Alliance will continue to work with our partner organizations for social justice and a just transition through the climate and economic crises. Beyond the calendar of YAA-organized events above, the YAA meets every week over snacks, art, and action plans, formerly at a local school, but now online. If funds are not used for camp, some will be put in reserve for next year’s camp, some will go to youth-led actions and events during the school year, and will be used to support transportation and the endless snacks required by our young revolutionaries in the planning process. But we are hopeful that we WILL have Uprise Camp in 2020, and we are holding it down until August rolls around. We are hearing from campers that they are looking to the unity, tangible personal growth, and energy that our time together provides, even more than before, to relieve the isolation and doubt we all face right now and get back on track. We’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that we have a safe environment and healthy practices for all when we can meet again. Help us get that chance.



Thank you so much in advance for your support., Let's build the power of this moment, and help these young people lead the movement that their lives depend on.
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Donations 

  • Kate Blofson
    • $25 
    • 4 yrs
Donate

Fundraising team (2)

Henry Harris
Organizer
Raised $1,880 from 11 donations
Marshfield, VT
Global Justice Ecology Project
 
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
Amanda Colianni
Team member
Raised $35 from 2 donations
This team raised $1,298 from 16 other donations.

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