LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Green USA (GGUSA) is commemorating the 10^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and their efforts to rebuild a greener New Orleans by launching its Climate Champions fundraising campaign. The initiative recommits resources to NOLA and other at-risk cities such as New York, San Francisco, Miami, and Los Angeles in order to complete their Lower Ninth Ward Climate Action and Community Center, enhance their New Orleans-based Disaster Response Team, and educate and motivate people in other cities to make changes to prevent climate related disasters and become prepared before they happen, thereby lessening the destruction and shortening the reconstruction process.  
 
For more than two decades, Global Green USA has been a national leader in advancing smart solutions to climate change that improve lives and protect our planet. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Global Green was instrumental in helping to create and implement initiatives to rebuild the Crescent City's schools, homes and buildings to be healthier, more energy-efficient and more resilient to future storms. Global Green is revitalizing its commitment to New Orleans and heightening attention towards other endangered coastal cities by designating the Climate Action and Community Center as the epicenter for providing critical resources to climate change threats. Its expanded purpose will be to build upon the existing promise of providing community meeting rooms, serve as a first responder site during disasters and provide necessary retail space while additionally acting as a multi-purpose resource to educate visitors via exhibits, labs, classrooms and a resource library on the importance of the environment and how communities can thrive in response to global climate change.
 
The Climate Champions fundraising initiative will roll out in stages initially raising $1.5 million to complete the Climate Action and Community Center and provide resources for the Disaster Response Team. Unlike emergency responders, Global Green's Disaster Response Teams are deployed to help cities reconstruct greener buildings after environmental tragedies and educate people on preparation for and response to the next hurricanes, floods, droughts or other natural disasters.
 
Global Green is utilizing crowdfunding in collaboration with cloud based software solution company MobileCause, to provide an innovative and greener way of raising awareness and fundraising. The campaign will also educate supporters on how fragile all of our coastal communities are due to climate change, while highlighting what we can learn from mega hurricanes such as Katrina and Sandy to help reduce the impacts of future storms, minimize the massive destruction which follows, and provide emergency power and resources for communities at risk.  Future Climate Change Champions can log onto www.globalgreen.org to get more information or they can text CLIMATE to 77717 to get involved now.
 
Dr. Les McCabe, President and CEO of Global Green USA: "We are excited to reinvigorate our presence in New Orleans with new initiatives including our Climate Champions campaign to raise funds and awareness and are equally excited to announce the expanded direction for our Climate Action and Community Center based on the needs of the residents of New Orleans and all communities impacted by climate change, to provide a space which serves as the Ground Zero of climate change resources, houses our growing Disaster Response Team,  and provides educational exhibits and a state of the art learning environment." 
 
On the Fourth Anniversary of Katrina, Time Magazine reported, "…no organization is doing more to green New Orleans than Global Green USA." Global Green garnered international visibility from their unprecedented response to the Katrina disaster by creating a 'greenprint' to rebuild New Orleans to be healthy and energy efficient. They sparked global interest in affordable housing construction by hosting an international sustainable design competition chaired by Brad Pitt in the Holy Cross neighborhood of the Lower Ninth Ward, rebuilt and modernized damaged schools with the support of the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund and helped to transform tax incentives and other state and local policies for incentivizing solar and green building.
 
The Disaster Response Team conveyed many of the lessons learned from New Orleans to over two dozen cities including New York City after Hurricane Sandy slammed into the eastern seaboard. In New York, Global Green responded with innovative Solar for Sandy initiatives, helping to erect greener buildings in the wake of the storm and provide community centers with off grid renewable energy through solar power.
 
Forty percent of the U.S. population lives in coastal areas, making them the highest risk for destruction. Natural and man-made disasters cause an estimated 57 billion dollars in average annual costs. Ten years later, NOLA is still rebuilding and recuperating. Nearly three years later, the Jersey Shore is still suffering from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. California is currently experiencing its worst drought in history. These are all interconnected issues which will continue to afflict our environment, our wallets and our lives. Global Green USA's Climate Action and Community Center is therefore the place to generate education and critical resources for other at-risk cities in the US and abroad.
 
In demonstrating the depth of commitment Global Green USA has for New Orleans and beyond, multiple upcoming projects are planned including celebrity supporters participating in ongoing NOLA volunteer initiatives, a benefit concert, and a celebrity fundraising campaign to be rolled out over the next six months in order to further our compelling agenda of educating, motivating change and recruiting Climate Champions.