WILDFIRE AWARENESS INITIATIVE
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 alongside Lauren Kim and 10 other high school students. Since then, they have worked on various projects ranging from publishing a children's storybook on wildfire preparedness to sending out wildfire prevention curriculum and disaster kits to 400+ local elementary schools. In the past few years, their team has grown to nearly 25 members in the Bay Area divided into three parts: 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, WAI has been invited to present at the Cupertino Public Safety Commission's forum about wildfire safety and preparedness. They covered topics on wildfire effects, causes, statistics, and local alerts, to teach the community the importance of preparing for wildfires immediately.
SHARING WILDFIRE PREVENTION CURRICULUM
For the past 3 years in November, WAI collaborated with the Santa Clara County Fire Department (SCCFD) to share wildfire prevention curriculum, including flyers, presentations, and engaging activities with 400+ schools. Using over $1000 collected from local fundraisers, they also sent out disaster kits and other goodies to all of the schools.
PUBLISHED A WILDFIRE PREVENTION STORYBOOK
In 2024, after a year of hard work, WAI published a storybook titled "The Forest Gets Wildfire Ready", aiming to introduce elementary schools to the basics and importance of wildfire preparedness through a funny and engaging story of forest animals facing a wildfire threat. The storybook has reached over 200+ downloads, and is being shared with local schools.
WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS IOS APP
In 2024, Niranjana published an iOS app to help families prepare for wildfires with a user and kid friendly interface. The app includes features to prepare disaster kits, call emergency contacts, prepare emergency routes, provide local alerts, and more! The app has recorded over 300+ downloads and is available on the iOS app store as Wildfire Ready!