Two people seated behind a table with laptops and air quality monitors in a library

Community Event: San Bruno Rooted in Resilience Fair

  • by Michaela Anang

April 18th, we had the pleasure of being invited to participate in the First Annual San Bruno Rooted in Resilience Fair, “a family-friendly day of community safety, health and preparedness.” I arrived at Belle Air Elementary greeted by friendly volunteers who directed me to the school’s library where, along with our community partners, Rise South City, we set up our air monitoring instruments and community engagement activities. 

 

Outdoor community info booths and volunteers under a tree with a prize wheel

 

I walked around to the other booths which included community organizations and even representatives from the Bay Area Air District. I went around and to see what each table had to offer and was delighted to meet some lovely folks and learn more about their work. Before returning to our display, I watched a youth band performance and heard from a local council member and Violet Saena, the director of Climate Resilient Communities, who had moving words about the event and about the climate resilience of San Bruno. 

 

Hands on demonstration with community members of the HAPSITE instrument

Through the daylong event, several residents including teachers, students and family of Belle Air Elementary stopped by to visit Amelia and me to learn more about Rise and the Community Air Project. We talked with residents about the work we do and how with the novel technology of TARTA and our newly deployed HAPSITE, we hope to support the air quality efforts in San Bruno. Residents were able to suggest locations for more monitoring and to sign up to host air monitoring instruments. My highlight of the day was reading along with Nora from a book about air quality, swapping between my English and her Spanish narration. I then showed the attentive young ones a small tutorial of how the HAPSITE works, giving them a hands on experience to couple what they had just learned listening to us read. Their excitement and engagement made my whole week, and was a brilliant reminder of the importance of accessible air quality education and more so of clean air in general for their generation’s livable futures.

Reading a book about air quality in the library, chairs and bookshelves behind
Children's book illustration of orange and green chameleons, held in a library

 

Additionally, participants were able to attend workshops including community gardening and disaster preparedness. We were all offered climate disaster kits and invited to participate in a community give and take area with clothing and resource swaps. After getting to tour the school’s garden and talk with more community members, we packed up. As always, my time in San Bruno was enriching and heartening. I ever-admire the work of the organizations present and the organizers of the whole day. Thank you to Rise South City for inviting us to participate and for continuing to collaborate for climate resilience!