Darby Communications announced selections for its 2018 Stand Up Initiative.
With the goal of helping to protect and preserve the environment and public lands, the program, which launched in February 2017, has provided pro bono PR-related services to select environmental nonprofits such as the American Alpine Club and Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners. In 2018 Darby will partner with several organizations from North Carolina, including Asheville GreenWorks, Friends of Big Ivy, MountainTrue and Friends of the Smokies, in an effort to heighten awareness and make lasting, positive impacts on the environment.
“As a small, grassroots nonprofit, Friends of Big Ivy is thrilled to be selected for the Stand Up Initiative—and incredibly grateful to Darby Communications for offering their services, skills and experience to us,” states Will Harlan, Executive Director of the Friends of Big Ivy. “Because of the Stand Up Initiative, we will be able to reach far more citizens and decision-makers during a critical period for Pisgah National Forest. The future of the forest will be decided this year, and the Stand Up Initiative will powerfully amplify our voice and magnify our impact.”
Kicking off the initiative in their hometown, Darby will first assist Asheville GreenWorks with their Love Your Trees campaign. This will involve helping the organization promote their tree care workshops, planting projects and Arbor Day celebrations with the goal of helping protect trees within Asheville’s city limits.
This spring, Darby will join over 30 other regional outdoor organizations and businesses who support Friends of Big Ivy’s Craggy Campaign by proudly promoting the organization’s work to protect 10,000 acres of old-growth forests and headwaters in Pisgah National Forest as a wilderness and national scenic area.
The final two beneficiaries of the 2018 Stand Up Initiative include MountainTrue and Friends of the Smokies. MountainTrue is committed to promoting responsible land use, restoring public forests, protecting water quality and promoting clean energy across Western North Carolina. Along with support from the Initiative, MountainTrue is partnering with Hemlock Restoration Initiative, American Whitewater, and NC Wildlife Resources Commission to spotlight the damage caused by the hemlock wooly adelgid, a non-native invasive insect that is killing eastern hemlock and Carolina hemlock trees along the Green River gorge. Sharing the goal of protecting hemlocks, along with rehabilitating the Great Smoky National Park’s busiest hiking trails, preserving historic structures and funding field trips for schoolchildren, Friends of the Smokies will work with Darby to promote their specialty license plates in North Carolina and Tennessee to help increase funding for the park.
Darby Communications’ clients include Astral, Aventura, Diamond Brand Gear, Ecōths, Feetures, Headsweats, Hyland’s, Industrial Revolution, Johnson Outdoors, Paddlesports Retailer, Sierra Designs, and Tailwind Nutrition.
