Testimonies from Sierra Club Members and Their Experiences at SPROG

The Sierra Club San Gorgonio Chapter hosted their monthly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Two young ladies, Tracy Walters and Chantal Biancardi, presented for attendees. Walters is a current student at UCR with many ties to the community through her involvement with the R’Garden, Sustainable UCR, and the Adversity and Adaptation Lab at UCR. Biancardi is originally from England, currently a student at Moreno Valley College, with aspirations to transfer to UCLA in hopes of becoming an Environmental Lawyer. These two ladies had the chance to go on a week-long retreat called SPROG, thanks to a sponsorship from the San Gorgonio Chapter. SPROG, short for Summer Program, is Sierra Club’s Summer Grassroots Training Program. For one week, Walters and Biancardi had the chance to experience a Summer Training Program in a camp setting in the forest of Mt. Baldy. SPROG is run by young adults for young adults, ranging from middle and high schoolers, to college students. Biancardi said, “Our youngest member in our group was 12 years old.” Both Walters and Biancardi presented a PowerPoint to the group with their daily activities and training sessions they went through during the program. Their day-to-day schedule was jam-packed, starting at 7 a.m. and ending at around 10-11 p.m. The day started out with a hearty meal, followed up by numerous training sessions on how to lead a grassroots campaign, then there would be an activity or hike that followed. Towards the end of the day, members of the program, along with their councilors would discuss how their day went. Walters said, “We all went around in a circle describing, our bud (something we hoped to happen in the future), thorn (something we didn’t enjoy so much), and flower (something we did enjoy).” One project that SPROG assigned was SIM, which Chantal explained, “SIM, was a simulated reality set in the city of Arreis (notice how Arreis is backwards for Sierra), where we had to lead an effective campaign for or against a nuclear power plant in the city. We had to persuade fellow community members, professors, and council members to be on our side. It was hard because we would leave numerous voicemails for these council members, try to chase them down if they were walking by us asking for a meeting, and even if we did get a meeting we had to be very prepared." Chantal explained that even when they assumed people like professors, whose specialty was in Environmental Policy, would automatically be on their side (which was anti-nuclear power plant), she said, “If you’re not prepared (with intellectual questions), they won’t be on your side.” The girls also went on to explain the different types of training sessions during the program and how they were using what they learned now, through their involvement at school and with campus organizations. With no cellphone connection on the trip, Chantal said, “It was much easier to bond without a cellphone in front of you.”