Larry Larry, January 1, 2022

Hello Climate Activists and Generous Donors,

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For our 2021 End of Year Fundraiser, you donated $5631! This year we had 31 donors with 13 of the contributors being first time givers! 

Your generous donations to 350 Chicago will allow us to further build our capacity as an organization and be even more effective in our work. Together, we will continue…  

  • Demanding Divestment from Fossil Fuels in Chicago – Our top priority is having the city of Chicago divest from dirty fossil fuels.  City officials must commit to and transparently implement a clear strategy to remove city assets from the top 200 coal, oil and gas companies.  We have been negotiating and crafting an ordinance with the city treasurer and city council members to divest the city’s operational budget! As an organization, we feel our Chicago divestment campaign has gained momentum and we hope to have good news soon. 
  • Working on our State Divestment Campaign. This past summer, 350 Chicago launched our state divestment campaign, beginning to conduct research, contact and meet with lawmakers and state officials, and we are writing a bill to have the state divest from fossil fuels.
  • Advocating for State-Wide Clean Energy – Meanwhile, 350 Chicago has been advocating for clean energy at the state and local level. For the last three years, our organization has been an active member of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.  We are proud to have been a member of the coalition that passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in Springfield. The law will create a widespread clean energy industry in the state and thousands of jobs while being designed with equitable distribution of opportunities for people of color and front line communities. 
  • Campaigning for Clean Energy in Chicago. We are members of the Ready for 100 Collective, pushing for renewable energy infrastructure and jobs in Chicago. We have members conducting research and writing policy papers on the clean energy transition, providing policy recommendations to the city. 
  • Fighting for a Fossil Free Federal Reserve – On October 29th, 350 Chicago led and acted in coordination with a coalition of climate and social justice organizations in an action before the Chicago branch of the Federal Reserve and the Chicago headquarters of Chase Bank. We demanded that the Fed and the banking industry end Fossil Fuel Finance and begin investing in clean energy and climate solutions. Watch for more information and actions about this campaign in the future.
  • Mobilizing the public – We intend to organize actions and events, seeking to gain involvement from as many citizens of Chicagoland and Illinois to further our fight against the climate crisis.

Once the pandemic is over, we can’t wait to attend forums and events to continue educating and mobilizing Chicagoans to solve the climate crisis. We look forward to performing outreach to allies in person and working with the environmental justice community in the “on the ground” fights against pollution in Chicago neighborhoods.  

So, once again, thank you for your generosity. We thank you for placing your trust in us. We are committed to fighting the climate emergency using every dollar donated for that purpose. And, we promise to build an organization you can proudly say you support now and in the future.

In solidarity and advocacy,

Larry Coble

350 Chicago Co-Founder 

President, Board of Directors

Fundraising Team Lead

P.S. Watch out for a video of me dancing on social media. A promise is a promise.