{photoSource}Daily Astorian{/photoSource} {photoSource}Daily Astorian{/photoSource} {photoSource}Daily Astorian{/photoSource}

The Bend-based teen activist group Deschutes Youth Climate Congress led a protest Friday in downtown Bend to demand action on climate change at local and national levels.

About two dozen people of all ages gathered at the corner of Newport Avenue and Wall Street. Some chanted while others held signs. The protesters wore face masks and kept their distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The climate strike was held in solidarity with similar protests in at least 60 countries as part of the global movement, Fridays for the Future, created by 18-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

In Bend, members of the climate congress had specific demands for Oregon’s lawmakers, including a call to end legislative walkouts over climate regulations and to pass environmentally-focused bills.

Overall, the protest Friday was meant to raise awareness about the threat of climate change, said event organizer Freddy Finney-Jordet, a 19-year-old Central Oregon Community College student who hosted previous climate-focused protests in Bend.

“It’s impossible to pass a protest without noticing it,” Finney-Jordet said. “That’s the point of a protest, to make it impossible to ignore. It’s also showing that it is important enough and people are passionate enough about it that they are willing to hit the streets.”

The teen activists were joined Friday by members of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Indivisible Bend, Vocal Seniority, 350Deschutes, Sierra Club Juniper Group, and Let’s Act Bend.

Finney-Jordet said each group has supported the Deschutes Youth Climate Congress and helped make the protest possible.

“It’s been great to work with all these communities,” Finney-Jordet said. “Each one has their separate set of things they are really good at.”

Friday was the group’s first in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year.

In April, the Youth Climate Congress canceled an in-person protest and hosted a virtual climate strike. The members recorded speeches and shared artwork over social media during the virtual event.

Due to the pandemic, the group also had to cancel a planned youth climate summit last year at the High Desert Museum.

Galen Genevieve “GG” Johnson, an 18-year-old senior at Bend High School and member of the climate congress, said the group is working to reschedule the youth climate summit this spring.

“We are circling back to that now, to do it virtually,” Johnson said. “That is one of the main projects we have been working on.”

Overall, it had been difficult for the group to rally people during the pandemic, so members were happy to see the crowd Friday gathering safely and sharing enthusiasm for addressing climate change.

Johnson said climate activism is not something the teenagers will grow out of, but rather something they will remain dedicated to throughout their lives.

As they showed Friday, they will not stop until there is change, she said.

“I think it will be a lifelong pursuit for all of us because we are deeply passionate about this cause,” Johnson said.