LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster County is hosting it's first Climate Summit in celebration of Earth Day this Saturday, April 22nd.
Taking place across Lancaster City, the event is expected to bring 5,000 plus attendees through seven themed sites across the city. These sites, which include the Ware Center, Penn Square, and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, will all feature different topics such as water, land, and environmental justice.
Attendees can listen to experts, learn about local green service providers, and connect with existing action groups.
“Climate summit is an opportunity for people to experience all the things that are happening already in Lancaster County through a number of organizations, through dedicated people," says Dave Bushnell, chairperson for the Climate Summit Planning Committee.
Bushnell is hoping that people from across Lancaster come out to both learn more about the current climate crisis as well as connect with groups that interest them.
Joyce Burkholder also helped in the planning of the event. She hopes people come out with open minds.
“They just need to bring their interest and there’s no fee. Open minds," she tells FOX43. "It can be a family event. It’s just an opportunity to stretch your mind on the possibilities.”
Kids are encouraged to come. There will be a butterfly passport for them to stamp at each station they visit.
“They’ll get their passports stamped and when they do and they get the complete passport stamped they come back to the Ware Center, one final stamp, and that becomes a free pass to the Lancaster Science Factory," says Bushnell.
Bushnell is a strong advocate that bringing neighbors and communities together can create tangible change. It's something he's leading the charge of in his own community of Hamilton Park.
“If we have climate action neighborhoods, we can encourage people to do projects together, to learn things together, to do service projects together," he says.
While the climate crisis may appear daunting, Burkholder says there is a lot of work that we can do to help not only our generation, but future generations too.
“We shouldn’t despair. Granted, we are going to have climate change. But our generation... this is legacy time," she tells FOX43. "And 50 years ago, or maybe 100 years ago, people didn’t realize the impact of their actions so they didn’t do anything about it. We know the impact of our actions. We can do something about it. And the solutions are there, we just have to do them. And it takes a little self-discipline, but it’s worth it."
The Lancaster County Climate Summit kicks off at 9 a.m. at the Ware Center. You can find a full schedule and list or speakers and participating organizations here.