In this Sept. 20, 2019, photo, Freddy Finney-Jordet addresses the crowd during an Oregon Youth Climate Strike in downtown Bend. 

To show support for similar events worldwide, the Bend-based teen climate activist group Youth Climate Congress will hold a climate strike in downtown Bend on Friday afternoon — the group’s first in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

The climate strike will take place at the corner of Newport Avenue and Wall Street at 3 p.m., according to a Youth Climate Congress press release.

Event organizer Freddy Finney-Jordet — a 19-year-old Central Oregon Community College student who has hosted climate-focused protests in Bend for two years — told The Bulletin the event is partly meant to remind people about the urgent threat that climate change poses.

“This is to make people aware of the problem, and the severity of the problem,” he said Thursday. “We’re still seeing lots of inaction.”

The Youth Climate Congress also has a specific list of demands for Oregon’s state lawmakers, including ending legislative walkouts and passing a series of environmentally-focused bills being debated in Salem this year, Finney-Jordet said.

“This is showing that we care enough about this legislation that we’re willing to hit the streets, even during a pandemic, to show them support,” he said.

All protesters must wear face masks and stay socially distanced during the climate strike, the press release stated.

The event in Bend is being held on the same day as other climate strikes around the world, organized by famed Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, Finney-Jordet said.

“We figure, if we exercise safety precautions, we can participate and contribute to that worldwide action,” he said.