WILDFIRE AWARENESS INITIATIVE
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
We are a youth organization based in the Silicon Valley since January of 2021.
WILDFIRE READY APP
Niranjana published an app titled Wildfire Ready in the iOS app store to help families prepare for wildfires. The app includes a user-friendly interface with features to create a disaster kit, emergency route plan, call emergency contacts, provide local alerts, and more!
THE FOREST GETS WILDFIRE READY STORYBOOK
After one year of hard work, WAI published a storybook titled "The Forest Get Wildfire Ready" to introduce elementary schoolers to wildfire prevention with a funny and engaging story of forest animals facing a wildfire threat.
LOS ALTOS EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DAY
WAI hosted a booth at the Los Altos Emergency Preparedness day, sharing flyers and information on wildfire prevention with the local community in May 2024.
2024 CUPERTINO EARTH AND ARBOR FAIR
WAI attended their 3rd Cupertino Earth and Arbor Day Fair where they hosted a booth to share information about wildfire prevention. They also had fun activities for little children including coloring and a raffle.
CUPERTINO FARMER’S MARKET
WAI hosted a booth at the De Anza Farmer’s Market where they handed out magnets which contain important information about wildifire preparedness and prevention. We look forward to interacting with our community even more in the future!
PUBLIC SAFETY FORUM 2024
WAI presented at the Cupertino Public Safety Forum for the third year in a row! We hope to attend more events where we can educate our community!
SCCFD VOLUNTEERING 2024
WAI volunteered for their third year for the Santa Clara County Fire Department where they helped assemble educational resources that will be sent out to elementary and middle schools around Santa Clara County.
BOY SCOUTS PRESENTATION
WAI gave a presentation about wildfire preparedness and prevention for the Boy Scouts troops in Saratoga! We hope that our information helped them!
NEXT VISTA LEARNING VIDEOS
WAI finished their “Prepare and Prevent Lessons” series which was a collaboration with Next Vista Learning to inspire the youth to take part in educating themselves and others. This series of videos can be viewed on WAI’s YouTube channel where there are many other informational videos posted!
MONTA VISTA EARTH DAY FAIR
WAI took part in Monta Vista’s Earth Day Fair where they educated their peers on the importance of preparing and preventing wildfires and they also recruited more members!
CUPERTINO EARTH AND ARBOR DAY FAIR
WAI attended the Cupertino Earth and Arbor Day Fair where they held a booth with fun activities for the community as well as spread the importance of WAI’s goals to the youth.
CUPERTINO WINDOW PAINTING
WAI participated in a Cupertino event where they painted a window commemorating the start of spring! Go check out our window!
NEXT VISTA COLLABORATION
WAI collaborated with Next Vista Learning to create informational interactive videos about wildfires for younger audiences. You can check out these videos on our YouTube Channel!
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM
WAI launched its middle school program where middle schoolers will make presentations for schools and work to spread wildfire awareness within their schools. Anyone interested can sign up at https://forms.gle/rBFwXxauvEHQNhMQA.
PUBLIC SAFETY FORUM FLYER
WAI made this flyer available for the public as well as all Public Safety Forum attendees. WAI worked with the Santa Clara County Fire Department on the information included in the flyer. The flyer includes information on wildfire’s causes, effects, preparedness, and future predictions. Thanks to our creative team member (Shrika) for their hard work on this flyer!
PREDICTING WILDFIRES WITH DATA SCIENCE
WAI held its third online workshop dedicated to educating the youth about the importance of wildfires and their risks. But this workshop had a slight twist; It was based on STEM! In this workshop, participants learned about how to predict wildfires with data science. Students learned about the basics of data science and collaborated on their first AI project used to predict future wildfires. Participants were able to practice their logic, analyzing, and collaborating skills during this workshop.
PUBLIC SAFETY FORUM 2022
Thank you to Cupertino’s Public Safety Commission for giving WAI the opportunity to present at the Public Safety Forum again. WAI was able to reach out to Cupertino and spread awareness of the importance of acknowledging the increasing risks of wildfires in order for more action to be taken to prevent them and their effects. We look forward to working with Cupertino in order to tackle this problem within our community.
SCIENCE BEHIND WILDFIRES
WAI held its second online workshop dedicated to educating and strengthening the community. In this workshop, participants learned about why wildfires spread so fast and how they affect the world. To test their knowledge, the students participated in a fun Kahoot for the chance to win a prize.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
WAI launched its YouTube channel where we will post recordings of webinars, informational videos, and much more! Look forward to the content we’ll post in the future and check out our YouTube channel.
GREENBLOCKS LEADERS
Thank you to Marta Downing and the GreenBlocks Program for giving WAI’s team members an opportunity to actively educate our community. We can’t wait to participate in the program and inform the members of our block!
SOLVING FUTURE WORLD PROBLEMS
WAI held its first online workshop dedicated to educating and interacting with the youth. In this workshop, participants learned about the government’s actions against wildfires and the current technology available with the guest speaker, Battalion Chief Jon Black. With this new knowledge, the students participated in a mock conference, acting as a government given a hypothetical wildfire. The students were able to practice public speaking, teamwork, and collaboration skills.
VOLUNTEERING FOR SCCFD
WAI’s team members once again volunteered for the Santa Clara County Fire Department and assembled disaster kits and educational materials (including pencils, flyers, magazines, manuals, and many more!) which were distributed to local schools.
PODCAST ON WILDFIRES
WAI collaborated with Under the Microscope on a podcast about the issue with wildfires. Recently, the frequency and severity of wildfires has increased, imposing a huge threat to the environment, people, and economy. Listen in to podcast to learn about the impacts of wildfires and how to prevent and prepare for them.
MOUNTAIN VIEW’S FAMER’S MARKET
WAI’s team members set up a booth at Mountain View’s farmer's market and handed out flyers informing the public on how to handle fires safely, prepare for, and prevent wildfires. We hope to participate in more community events to fulfill our goal of educating the public about the importance of preventing wildfires and being prepared for their increasing effects.
CERTIFIED 501C3 NONPROFIT
WAI is now officially a 501c3 non-profit organization! With this status, we plan to give out official volunteer hours for the PVSA award for our team members (spots are always open so feel free to join!).
CUPERTINO CAMPOUT
WAI participated in a Cupertino community camp out where we handed out flyers about tips for staying safe during the upcoming wildfire season. Because wildfires are mainly caused by humans, WAI wanted to educate its community on how to lower the high rates of human-caused fires starting with the misuse of campfires. This is especially important because summer is the hottest and driest season with many families using their vacation camping. WAI wanted to address the potential risks and prevent them.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Following the terrible wildfires of 2020 in California, we decided to start WAI to promote the importance of preparing early for wildfires. A large part of the community had been taken by surprise when given the order to evacuate immediately. Due to the pandemic, our work started on Instagram where we post informative slideshows on a variety of wildfire-related topics ranging from wildfires' impact on minorities to recent government action to combat the issue. We also include short 24-hour posts about current wildfire updates across the world and any wildfire alerts in California. Within just a few months, we accumulated a following of over 2000 people from all over the world. Special thanks to Shrika and Kestrel from our creative team for your hard work!
WORKING WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS
With our successful Instagram account, we decided to focus our efforts locally. In October of 2021, we worked with the CUSDK8 school district on promoting wildfire preparedness in Cupertino's elementary schools. A couple of our board members, Niranjana and Lauren, presented at multiple CUSDK8 board meetings regarding the importance of our mission and what we plan to do. After countless emails, we sent out our flyers and Kahoots, short and interactive quizzes. We worked with the Santa Clara County Fire Department on both the flyer and Kahoot before sending them out. They are designed specifically for youth and only include basic and simple information.
PRESENTING AT THE CITY FORUM
In October of 2021, we were recognized for our efforts and were invited to present at the Cupertino Public Safety Commission Forum. The forum took place at the local library on October 26th. Our team prepared a poster board and 100 flyers covering crucial wildfire topics including dealing with bad air quality and measures each individual can take to prevent severe wildfires. Our ten-minute presentation on stage by four of our team members, Niranjana, Lauren, Madeleine, and Aarna, went into more detail about wildfire preparedness and prevention. Thanks to the Cupertino Public Safety Commission for the opportunity!
VOLUNTEERING WITH THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT
In November of 2021, we volunteered at the Santa Clara Fire Department to help organize flyers, goodies, and packets to educate elementary schoolers on wildfire safety. The flyers contained information on bike helmet safety and smoke detectors with fun pictures and activities directed specifically for elementary students. After three hours of work, seven of our team members, Niranjana, Lauren, Madeleine, Aarna, Jerry, Charlotte, and Netra, helped put together 400 bags of material for 400 local elementary schools.
SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION COLAB
WAI presented for Cupertino’s sustainability commission and pitched a collaboration idea directed toward the community. WAI hopes to create a safer and more prepared community in the case of a possible wildfire, making the community better prepared for unexpected events such as the CZU August Lightning Complex fires.
JUNE 12TH WEBINAR
WAI had their second webinar which educated the public about how severe wildfires' impacts are and how their effects are getting worse. Additionally, the webinar helped prepare families for possible wildfires.
CUPERTINO CAMPOUT
WAI participated in a Cupertino community camp out where we handed out flyers about tips for staying safe during the upcoming wildfire season. Because wildfires are mainly caused by humans, WAI wanted to educate its community on how to lower the high rates of human-caused fires starting with the misuse of campfires. This is especially important because summer is the hottest and driest season with many families using their vacation camping. WAI wanted to address the potential risks and prevent them.
CWPP MEETINGS
WAI’s members volunteered Santa Clara County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan meeting where they listened to guest speakers present information about wildfire risks in Santa Clara County and what some plans were to mitigate those risks. WAI’s members also answered the attendees’ questions and presented our own information and plans.
BOY SCOUTS PRESENTATION
In February of 2022, a couple of our team members, Lauren, Niranjana, and Madeleine, presented on wildfire preparedness/prevention and camping tips for local boy scout troops in Saratoga (over 60 boy scouts)! After our presentation, we hosted a 12-question Kahoot where the boy scouts competed amongst each other to answer questions on wildfire safety as accurately and fast as possible. Congratulations to Harini for winning the Kahoot!
WORKING WITH OUR SCHOOL
In April of 2022, we were invited to present at our school's (Monta Vista) environmental club Earth Day fair. Three of our team members, Lauren, Niranjana, and Madeleine, went into detail about wildfire's impacts on the environment, especially how and why climate change is a huge contributing factor. On a more positive note, Niranjana wrapped up the 15-minute presentation with a short talk on current technology developments that are helping with wildfire prevention. Thanks to Monta Vista's Environmental Club for the opportunity!
HANDING OUT FLYERS
In June of 2022, our creative team, Shrika and Aster, worked on a flyer covering wildfires' effects, causes, statistics, and preparedness. The flyer's goal is to serve as an introduction to the wildfire problem for youth. After implementing feedback from the Santa Clara County Fire Department, we sent the flyer to 40 local schools through PeachJar's Community Free Program and got accepted! We plan on handing out different versions at this flyer at other community events too.
WEBINAR ON JUNE 12TH
On June 12th of 2022, WAi hosted a webinar covering wildfires' impacts and effects. These include wildfires' unequal impacts on minorities, farmers, and communities that lack the funding to prepare and afford restoration costs. Most importantly, Madeleine, Lauren, and Niranjana talked about the recent UN report on how wildfires are only predicted to get drastically worse immediately. We followed up the somber start with information on what each individual can do by themselves to prevent and prepare for wildfires.
PANDA EXPRESS FUNDRAISER
Following the unexpected Big Sur wildfire in February 2022, WAI held a fundraiser with Cupertino's Panda Express (on Stevens Creek road) in order to raise money to donate to affected areas. The fundraiser was held Sunday, February 13, from 11 AM to 2 PM and we raised a total of $4,543. We received 20 percent of the funds, $908.60 to donate. Thanks to the support of our community!
WEBINAR ON JULY 10TH
During the pandemic, on July 10th, 2021, WAI hosted its first webinar in collaboration with the Santa Clara County Fire Department. A representative from the fire department gave a presentation on wildfire preparedness and included important information about wildfire alerts, ready, set, go, and what to expect in the future. Following the presentation, a few team members, Niranjana, Lauren, Aarna, and Madeleine, hosted a Kahoot, a short interactive quiz, about the presented information. Congratulations to Melodic Llama, the Kahoot winner, who received a 15-dollar gift card!
SHOWING APPRECIATION TO LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS
Firefighters are a vital part of our community. Following the unexpected wildfires in February (including the one in Big Sur), WAI decided to show local fire departments their appreciation. Within a week, we organized thank you messages from our 2000 followers and 15 team members and sent them out to 6 local fire departments. Thank you again to the firefighters for your hard work and for keeping us safe!
STEM CONFERENCE
On April 17th, 2021, WAI was invited by the Santa Clara Youth Commission to assist in providing information for their Sustainable Environmental WAI provided information on wildfires including their causes, effects, and statistics for the Santa Clara Youth Commission’s STEM convention on sustainable technology.