A coalition of various environmental conservation, disaster relief and activist groups shared information and mobilization plans at the All Hands on Deck Climate Action & Disaster Preparedness Community Engagement Fair on Oct. 14 in a combined effort to increase climate awareness and action in the Washington, D.C. community. 

Groups such as the American Red Cross, the Sierra Club and the D.C. Climate Commission set up tents at the event and presented their climate action plans to visitors. With over 25 District-based organizations and initiatives exhibited — all of which have diverse roles — the event marked the first of its kind in D.C., according to participants. 

The event featured several presentations aimed to increase a sense of urgency around climate change, as well as different interactive workshops aimed to equip and prepare participants to combat growing challenges like rising temperatures and inclement weather. 

The Southwest Neighborhood Assembly (SWNA) Emergency Preparedness Task Force, also known as SW Strong!, a voluntary coalition of residents dedicated to D.C.’s environmental welfare, primarily organized the event. 

SWNA is the local civic organization in the Southwest neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and established the Emergency Preparedness Task Force in 2011 with the mission to build a “disaster resilient community.”

The fair, held next to the Southwest Farmers Market in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood, featured speakers including community advocates like ANC 6D Commissioner Rhonda Hamilton and D.C.’s Youth Mayor Lourdes Robinson. 

Benjamin Curran, founder and chair of SW Strong!, said the task force aims to make a local impact by strengthening the preparedness and security of the D.C. community.

“Being from DC has a lot to do with what is motivating me to make our contribution towards making the city one of the best disaster prepared cities in the country – we are starting with our neighborhood,” Curran wrote to The Hoya. 

According to Curran, the task force has organized other events focused on preparedness, including a discussion on earthquake preparedness, running a disaster preparedness float in D.C.’s July 4 parade and launching a community exercise simulating a hurricane scenario.

Curran said despite its focus on difficult issues, the fair served as a fun and friendly environment for community members to learn more and meet others. 

“It was fun with lots of networking and engagement — holding the event right next door to the SW Farmers Market helped us take advantage of that friendly, interactive, nice and slow-moving atmosphere — ideal environment for what we were trying to do,” Curran wrote. 

Peggy Keller, who currently serves on the D.C. Commission for Climate Change and Resiliency, helped to plan the event, organize speakers and ensure that a diverse range of topics were covered. 

According to Curran and Keller, groups present at the fair discussed topics surrounding environmental sustainability, from forest conservation to recycling. Other disaster relief groups explained the growing impact of natural disasters due to the threat of climate change and how the D.C. community can play a part in preventing and preparing for such challenges. 

Keller said the goal of the event was two-fold. 

“It’s an opportunity to bring awareness to the residents about the negative impacts of climate change and the importance of disaster preparedness, and then, you know, what are the things that they can do that can make a difference,” Keller told The Hoya.

“But then also, the other goal is, from the perspective of all the exhibitors and those different organizations, giving them a platform to learn about each other, and to collaborate and partner,” she added. 

Keller said the fair successfully brought together groups such as Black Millennials 4 Flint and the DC Baptist Convention to collaborate on a common goal. 

“I saw the organizations looking at how they could partner, how they could utilize or look at the strengths that they each had and develop partnerships that they may not have even known about each other,” Keller said. “It was very exciting to watch how that was happening kind of organically.”

The Georgetown Undergraduate Environmental Health Collaborative (GUEHC), which focuses on the intersection between the environment and health, was involved in advertising the fair on campus. 

Amber Mickelson (CAS ’25), GUEHC’s director of communications, said that the event addresses the growing need for intersectional conversations between climate change and disaster preparedness. 

“We saw that with the historic hurricanes that have happened in Louisiana, Texas, things like that,” Mickelson told The Hoya. “But we also need them here in D.C. We’re just as susceptible.”

Mickelson said that events such as these are crucial to bridging the gap between student advocacy and action, especially on college campuses. 

“Advocacy is not just putting an Instagram infographic on your story, it is not just talking about it with your friends,” Mickelson said.

“But if you get enough people to recycle, you get enough people to go out to these festivals, you’re really going to start making at least a local impact and do something good for the planet and its people,” Mickelson added.