As a marine biologist and parent, Heidi Dewar is very worried about climate change. But with so many issues competing for national attention, she’s found it hard to make her voice heard. Then it occurred to her:

Dewar: “If you get a letter from a kid, it sort of penetrates more to people’s inner core and hopefully to a place of caring, and compassion and concern.”

So Dewar formed a group called “Kids 4 Planet Earth.” They’re helping children send one million postcards about climate change to President Trump by Earth Day.

The notes are heartfelt. Fourteen-year-old Madeline Writes: I live by the coast in California, and the sea levels have already risen. Please help save my coastal beach town.

Siblings Rowan and Haddie tell the President that they recycle, compost, and save energy. And they ask, “What are you doing to protect the planet?”

Dewar: “It’s been amazing to see how empowered these kids are. Like, they never realized they actually had a voice, and now they’re writing these letters, getting their friends to write these letters … and you can see the sense of empowerment and this desire to take charge. And I think if we can instill that in our youth, that’s incredibly powerful.”

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media.
Image graphic: Created by David McCarthy. Letter graphic courtesy of Kids 4 Planet Earth.