WAI
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WILDFIRE AWARENESS INITIATIVE
WHO WE ARE
Wildfire Awareness Initiative is a certified 501c3 nonprofit that spreads awareness about wildfire preparedness and prevention. WAI was founded in January 2021 by Niranjana Sankar and Lauren Kim alongside 10 other high school students. Since then, they have worked on various projects ranging from presenting at the local city forum on wildfire preparedness to organizing 400 disaster bags for local elementary schools. In the past few years, their team has grown to nearly 25 members divided into three teams: creative, research, and outreach, and they continue working on projects to better prepare the community for wildfires.
SPONSORED BY
Thanks to Santa Clara County FireSafe Council for sponsoring us and providing us with guidance in our projects and work.
PROMOTING CHANGE IN OUR COMMUNITY
For the past 3 years, on October 26th, Niranjana, Lauren, Aarna, and Madeleine were invited to present at the Cupertino Public Safety Commission's forum about wildfire safety and preparedness. They covered topics on wildfire effects, causes, statistics alerts, and promoted the importance of preparing for wildfires early on.
HELPING OUT OUR LOCAL FIRE STATION
For the past 3 years in November, the Santa Clara Fire Department invited WAI to help organize flyers, pencils, and other goodies for youth-oriented disaster kits. The flyers covered information on helmet safety to smoke detectors. After 3 hours of hard work, WAI sent out the 400 disaster kits to local elementary schools.