| Hi Faith,
There is someone I really want you to meet. Her name is Melissa. Melissa is an ordinary person. She is also an inspiration.
She is a mom from California who is bravely petitioning California’s incoming governor, and was able to convince one of the most famous families in the world, the Kardashians, to fight for her cause. You may have heard of her petition before, but there is even more to her story:
It all started with a terrifying cancer diagnosis for her daughter, which Melissa soon learned was common in her area. Melissa documented over 50 other cases of rare childhood cancers near her family’s home.
As she peeled away the layers of this mystery, she uncovered a jaw-dropping truth: the site of one of the worst nuclear meltdowns in U.S. history sat just miles from her house...
And it has never been cleaned up.
For over a year, Melissa has been campaigning to clean up this former nuclear and rocket testing site. She’s grown the signatures on her petition to over half a million supporters and counting. She’s hosted rallies. And Melissa has been interviewed by countless press outlets and political candidates about her campaign.
When her daughter first developed cancer, Melissa would not have described herself as a natural advocate. “I wasn’t used to speaking up and did everything I could to avoid conflict.” But once her daughter’s life was at stake, she had no choice but to act.
Like I said, Melissa is an ordinary person. She’s also someone who has stepped up to the plate in an extraordinary way. And Melissa isn’t slowing down. | |
| Advocates and community members rally to pressure Gavin Newsom, soon to be California governor, to prioritize cleaning up Boeing's testing site. | |
| The recent California wildfires brought renewed attention to Melissa’s campaign. It turns out that one of the fires — the Woolsey Fire in Southern California — started on the abandoned nuclear field lab site, and its smoke may have been carrying radioactive chemicals.
People began asking: why hadn’t this toxic site been cleaned up decades ago? Melissa’s campaign was thrust into the spotlight as people turned for a place to take action. | |
| Melissa appearing on NBC news. | |
| Soon, celebrities living near the fire began catching wind of what might be in the air – Khloe, Kim, and Kourtney Kardashian shared the petition with their 100 million collective social media followers.
The Kardashian clan expressed outrage and concern upon learning of the toxic chemicals located just miles away from their homes. They encouraged more people to sign the petition – and they did!
Celebrities have an incredible power to bring awareness to critical issues, and these tweets did just that. | |
| Kim Kardashian shares Melissa's petition with her 59 million Twitter followers. | |
| Today Melissa is still working nonstop on the campaign – but she says she never would have made it this far without the Change community behind her.
If you’d like to hear Melissa’s story in her own words, check out this powerful video: | |
Thank you for being a part of this community. Melissa still needs as much support as possible. If you haven't already, consider adding your name to her petition in this critical moment. As California prepares to swear in a new governor, your voice could make cleaning up the Santa Susana site a priority.
Thank you for your support, |
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Juliana Britto Schwartz
Associate Campaigns Director | |
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P.S. I've worked as a Campaigner at Change for a number of years now. Part of my job is to coach the brave people who launch new petitions on our website – people like Melissa. I teach them how to recruit more supporters, get their petition covered in the news, and influence key corporate leaders and politicians who can help the petition win. Our work at Change is proudly funded by people like you. To learn more about how you can help, check out our Membership options.
Change.org is a Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to empowering everyone to create the kind of change they want to see. Contributions from people like you help keep our platform free, open and independent. | |
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