September 21, 2020

Dear Reader,

We hope you enjoyed our new-look newsletter in July. If you missed it, you can read it here.

In this month's newsletter, you'll find volunteer opportunities with Indiana Beyond Coal, hear from one of our awesome volunteer leaders, Joe Bronnert, and get news of upcoming Hoosier Chapter elections. You will also see a local initiative that you can support, the Community Controlled Food Initiative.

First, we want to know- what have you been reading, listening to, and watching recently? If you have recommendations in the realms of environmental, conservation, equity, and justice issues, please let us know, so we can feature them in future newsletters. Check out our list below.

Send us your recommendations!

Repower Indiana volunteers standing in an Indianapolis park, with signs saying Repower Indiana and Beyond Coal

Repower Indiana volunteers in Indianapolis in 2019.
Photo Credit: Indiana Beyond Coal

Did you know Indiana is home to more Super Polluters than any other state?

You can make a difference! Volunteer with the Beyond Coal Campaign and the statewide movement to Repower Indiana with 100% renewable energy this fall- sign-up for our virtual new volunteer orientation!

Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) made the news recently for the wrong reasons: the utility's Petersburg super polluter is the largest water polluter in the state. If you like to recreate outdoors on or near the White River in southern IN, please join our petition.

IPL customers have also launched a petition drive in Marion County.

We have a number of other activities coming up this fall, aimed at moving our communities to 100% renewable energy.

Join the orientation to get plugged in, and follow Indiana Beyond Coal on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Some of our Sierra Club staff, ExCom, and volunteers in 2019.

It's almost election time!

In the next few months, the Hoosier Chapter will be conducting Executive Committee (EXCOM) elections electronically, with an option for those who do not have email addresses to request a paper ballot.

If you are a Hoosier Chapter member, you may submit names of EXCOM candidates to the Nominating Committee for consideration, by emailing Nominating Committee Chair, Richard Hill at rhill@cinergymetro.net and cc-ing Nominating Committee member Dick Miller at rwmiller@butler.edu, by September 30. The Nominating Committee will report a slate of nominees to the EXCOM by October 15. Election materials will be sent out to members around November 15 with a deadline of December 15 to submit votes. Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for participating.

Richard Hill- Nominating Committee Chair, Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter.

Not a member yet? Join today!

Volunteer Joe Bronnert leans on against the wall of a bridge. He has a bottle to collect water samples.

Joe Bronnert, trained Hoosier Riverwatch stream monitor, sampling in Decatur County.

Volunteer Spotlight- Joe Bronnert

This month we're excited to introduce you to the vice chair of our Winding Waters Group, Joseph (Joe) Bronnert.

"I was born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. As a small child I was intrigued by the farmer tilling the field next to my house with horses. In the 1940's my friend Jimmy and I would explore a small farm and the abandoned strip mines north of Jasonville, Indiana. I graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1959 with a BSEE degree and a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers. After eight years of active reserve time, I was transferred to the control group as a Captain.

I became a member of the Sierra Club in 1987, courtesy of my sister Lois as a gift..." Read more.

Show some love for local equity and justice organizations and initiatives all over Indiana! Get in touch if there's a group you think we should know about.

Community Spotlight-
Kheprw Institute Community Controlled Food Initiative

In our last email, we linked you to several organizations who are supporting communities, and fighting for equity and justice in Indiana. In this newsletter, we'd like to tell you a bit more about one of them.

The Community Controlled Food Initiative (CCFI) is a cooperative started by community members that brings fresh affordable food to the Indianapolis community and supports local farmers. Customers pay $20 or $15 (seniors 55+ and SNAP/EBT while supplies last) and CCFI buys fresh food collectively.
Food distribution is on the second Saturday of the month at the North United Methodist Church, 3808 N.Meridian Street, Indianapolis.
Place your order here!

See also:

Volunteer with CCFI or donate to Kheprw.

Kheprw Insitute Pandemic Community Resource Bank.

America at Hunger’s Edge, a timely piece about food insecurity from the New York Times.

Photo of J. Drew Lanham, sitting on a beach among driftwood, looking out to the water.

Photo from the article linked below- With Liberty, Justice, and Wildness for All- A plea to my country. Courtesy of J. Drew Lanham.

Our recommendations this month

From Indiana

Feeding a Community: Flanner Farm addresses food insecurity and offers healthy options in Indianapolis food desert (Indiana Environmental Reporter)
In The Water (video) and Growing in Place (audio) - both from Indiana Environmental Reporter
The climate is in crisis and they are not waiting: an interview with Vernice Riego and Ella Comerford-Barnett (NUVO)
Student-made YouTube series to be integrated into IU racism class (Indiana Daily Student) and the video mentioned- What's Black About It (content warning: racist language)

From Sierra Club

Liberty, Justice, and Wildness for All - article by J. Drew Lanham
Why People of Color Often Feel Unsafe In the Outdoors - article by Amanda Machado
The Overstory podcast- latest episode, The Movement for Black Lives Saves the Planet

From around the country

For Black Equestrians, Horseback Riding Brings Power and Peace : Black protestors on horseback shine a light on a long-erased community (Condé Nast Traveler)
The Nature Gap: Confronting Racial and Economic Disparities in the Destruction and Protection of Nature in America (Center for American Progress)
THIS LAND: a story about land access told through a journey of inclusion and empowerment (Vimeo)

On women and the right to vote

It’s a Struggle They Will Wage Alone: How Black Women Won The Right To Vote (Time)
What It's Like to Vote As a Woman Around the World (Vice)
The Unfinished Work Of The 19th Amendment: A century after the 19th Amendment was ratified, these women are still fighting to protect the right to vote (Huffpost)

Lastly... we love the free downloadable art from Rachel Ignotofsky's books, including The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth. Get your crayons out and get creative!

A young child sits on a bench in a small park near some flowers. They are writing in a journal.

Get in touch! (Photo- a young friend of Sierra Club writing a nature log for their remote learning class. Courtesy of Rebecca Dien-Johns)

That's all for now, friends.

We value your support and readership.

Is there a subject you'd like us to talk about in the future? Or do you have have comments or questions about this newsletter? Let us know. We always enjoy hearing from you!

In solidarity,

Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter.

The COVID-19 crisis has not passed and continues to disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people and other communities of color. The pandemic has revealed how the communities hardest hit are often the same communities that suffer from high levels of pollution and poor access to healthcare. The fight for environmental justice cannot be separated from the fight for racial justice.