Grassroots Outdoor Alliance (GOA) and Columbia Sportswear Company (CSC) launched their Belay Program to recognize local conservation projects and people who share their passion for the outdoors at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market show in Salt Lake City.
GOA and CSC share a mission of promoting long-term environmental good for the great outdoors on local, national and global levels. To demonstrate our commitment to the outdoors, as well as CSC’s appreciation of GOA members’ current conservation efforts, we have established the CSC/GOA Belay Program. To belay is simply to secure and safeguard a climber by using rope. The Belay Program is designed to provide the basic necessities to secure and safeguard local projects that improve our environment.
“The Belay Program will provide direct support for additional local conservation projects, promote community partnership and volunteerism, and enhance current GOA projects and partnerships,” said Roanne Miller, President, GOA. “We’re very excited to partner with Columbia to work with such a dynamic group of partners and projects.”
Over thirty applications were submitted from organizations around the United States for the 2012 program year. GOA members selected the following 10 grant recipients who will each be awarded $5,000 in cash, and/or product from CSC.
2012 Awards listed by project name, grant recipient/GOA partner:
- Chattahoochee River Cleanup Program, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper(UPR)/Outside World
- Climbing Higher Program, City of Chattanooga, Parks and Recreation Therapeutic Recreation Services/Rock Creek Outfitters
- Columbia SC Whitewater Park, The Explorer Group/Half Moon Outiftters
- Eastern Sierra Youth Conservation Corps, Friends of the Inyo (FOI)/Wilson’s
- Every Child Outside: Outdoor Adventure Programs at Common Ground, Common Ground/Trailblazer
- Knoxville Urban Wilderness Youth Camp, Legacy Parks/River Sports
- Mountains to Sea Trail Month, Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail/Great Outdoor Provision Company
- Planting Oysters, Growing Stewardship; Lynnhaven River NOW/Wild River Outfitters
- RiverSweep, Ohio Canal Corridor/Appalachian Outfitters
- Safeguarding the Wild Legacy of our nation’s First National Forest, Wyoming Outdoor Council/Wild Iris
“The projects supported by the recipients of the inaugural Belay Program reflect an incredible devotion to protecting the environment and helping to ensure that wilderness areas and other fragile ecosystems can be enjoyed for generations to come,” said Scott Welch, Corporate Relations Manager at CSC. “We are extremely proud to partner with the GOA and these impressive organizations.”
