In July of 2019, Dr. Lauren Schroeder wrote a letter to the Editor of the Youngstown Vindicator calling upon the people of the Mahoning Valley to stand together in a Grassroots organizing effort to address the “...worst climate crisis since the Yucatan Asteroid killed ...75% of the living plants and animals on the earth…” by forming a local panel on climate warming “...that would develop rules and behaviors that reduce atmospheric carbon.”

 

Frank Bishop, an environmental activist who was inspired by Dr. Schroeder’s letter, called a meeting on Sunday, July 21, 2019 in Schweitzer Lounge at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown at 12:30 PM to organize the Mahoning Valley Panel on Climate Warming (MVPCW). There were a succession of meetings n which we worked as (MVPCW). Meetings in which interested parties laid out their plans for the would-be organization. There was a meeting in which Dr. Schroeder explained the dangers of climate warming and how it worked; meetings in which potential members and other organization heads laid out their plans to confront climate warming along with sustainability; meetings with organizations and institutions with which we now work closely.

 

Finally, we all agreed to the Mission statement of the MVPCW as determined by Dr. Schroeder was to “Engage citizens, government, business, and universities to establish a zero atmospheric carbon balance for the Mahoning Valley.” Then we began the branding process to come up with a name that would be easy to remember and less cumbersome than Mahoning Valley Panel on Climate Warming or MVPCW. After much discussion we came up with Plant Ahead and we added Ohio because another group was incorporated under the name Plant Ahead. So officially we are registered as Plant Ahead Ohio. Our name reflects our purpose which is threefold:

 

1) Plant the seed of a Green Environment and Economy in the minds of many through education

2) Plant trees, and act to conserve the environment and sequester all greenhouse gasses through political actions

3) Plan Ahead by anticipating what problems may arise that compromise the environment and our place in it as a member of the human species and the interdependent web of existence

 

Presently we are working toward becoming a 501(c)3. Our fiscal agent is Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (TNP) and we have partnered with TNP, Treez Please of Youngstown, Mahoning County Landbank, Summit Academy, YSU Legacy Forests, and Citizen's Climate Lobby-Mahoning Valley, among others to plant trees, plant pollinator wild flowers, and educate about Climate Warming, sustainability, and organic gardening .  

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We'd love for you to get involved.   Get in touch!  Check out some of our projects below.