Continuing its partnership with The Conservation Alliance, Keen Footwear will host an event at their booth at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer show to benefit the Alliance. Keen will give a pair of shoes to anyone who donates $35 to The Conservation Alliance. The event is Sunday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at the Keen Footwear booth.
Keen hosted a similar event at the August show and raised more than $8,000 for the Conservation Alliance in just one hour. “The crowd at the August event was huge, and we expect an even better turnout in January,” said Conservation Alliance Executive Director, John Sterling.
Patagonia and prAna have also donated product to the event. The first six people who contribute $100 to the Alliance will receive a Patagonia down jacket a $135 donation will fetch both the jacket and Keen shoes. PrAna has added several different items to the mix.
“It is great to see our member companies coming together like this to support The Conservation Alliance,” Sterling said. “It will be a fun event and people will walk away with some great product.”
In addition to the product give-away, The Conservation Alliance will announce 14 new members at the event. This marks the largest increase in membership between two OR Shows in the Alliances 16-year history. New members are: Ailin, LLC; Babbits Backcountry Outfitters; Boulder Incentives; Broudy Donohue Photography; Dong-In Entech; Kristin Carpenter Public Relations; Outdoor Industry Association; Retailers of the Outdoor Industry; Yakima; Ex Officio; Mountain Equipment Co-op; Outdoor Research; Teko Socks; and Tibetan Trader.
As part of the Keen/Conservation Alliance partnership, Keen will match the first years dues of any company that joins the Alliance. The 14 new members represent $61,000 in new membership dues.
“With these new members and Keens match, we will add more than $120,000 to our fund to support grassroots conservation organizations,” Sterling added. “It is impressive to see our industry make such a strong commitment to save the places where wildlife thrives and customers recreate.”
The Conservation Alliance is an organization of outdoor businesses whose collective contributions support grassroots environmental organizations and their efforts to protect wild places where outdoor enthusiasts recreate. Alliance funds have played a key role in protecting rivers, trails, wildlands and climbing areas.
Membership in the Alliance is open to companies representing all aspects of the outdoor industry, including manufacturers, retailers, publishers, mills and sales representatives. The result is a diverse group of businesses whose livelihood depends on protecting our natural environment.
Since its inception in 1989, the Alliance has contributed more than $4.7 million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save over 34 million acres of wildlands; 25 dams have either been stopped or removed; and the group helped preserve access to more than 16,000 miles of waterways and several climbing areas.
