SmartWool announced its 2011 charitable donations to 30 non-profit organizations around the country that offer everything from environmental stewardship and outdoor education programming to advocating for bike commuting.

The SmartWool Advocacy Fund supports non-profit organizations that get kids into the outdoors, or that educate youth about environmental stewardship. Grant recipients are chosen for their dedication to making the world a better place the overall goal of the SmartWool Advocacy Program is to support those organizations that engage youth in an active outdoor lifestyle as an investment in their future, as well as in the future of the environment they learn to love and protect.

“Our commitment to mountain life extends beyond the walls of our office,” explained Hamish Morrin, co-lead for the SmartWool Advocacy Committee. “We want to affect positive change everywhere around us; especially in those places we live, work and play. To do so, we support those organizations that share our passion for the outdoors and helping others find their joy outside. By supporting these organizations, we know future generations will be able to experience the same love of the outdoors that is the foundation for our lives – both personally and professionally.”

Organizations that received support from SmartWool Advocacy Fund this year are:

Appalachian Mtn. Club – http://www.outdoors.org, Boston, MA
Girls Move Mountains – http://www.girlsmovemountains.org, Montpelier, VT
North Cascades Institute – www.ncascades.org, Sedro Wooley, WA
Outdoor Outreach, www.outdooroutreach.org, San Diego, CA
Tahoe Rim Trail Association, www.tahoerimtrail.org, Incline Village, NV
Trust for a Mtn. Classroom, Glastonbury, CT
Winter Wildlands Alliance, www.winterwildlands.org, Boise, ID
Big City Mountaineers, www.bigcitymountaineers.org, Denver, CO
City Kids Wilderness Project, www.citykidscamp.org, Washington, DC
City Wild, www.citywild.org, Denver, CO
The Colorado Mountain Club – www.cmc.org, Golden, CO
Conservation Corps of MN – www.conservationcorps.org, Maplewood, MN
Emerald Necklace Conservancy, www.emeraldnecklace.org, Boston, MA
Girls Wilderness Program, www.womenswilderness.org/girls-programs, Boulder, CO
Great River Greening, www.greatrivergreening.org, St. Paul, MN
Inner Roads Wilderness, www.youthhomes.com, Missoula, MT
Kid Commute, Boulder, CO
Lifejackets Program of the Charlotte White Center, www.charlottewhitecenter.com, Dover-Foxcroft, ME
Mississippi River Fund, www.missriverfund.org, St. Paul, MN
Outward Bound Denver, www.outwardbound.org, Denver, CO
The Woods Project, Inc. – www.thewoodsproject.org, Houston, TX
Trout Unlimited, www.tu.org, Arlington, VA
Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, www.wlrv.org, Boulder, CO
Wilderness Leadership/Learning – www.will-lead.org, Washington, DC
YMCA Bold Mountain School and Passages Northwest, Seattle WA
Community Bicycle Center, www.communitybike.net, Biddeford, ME
KIPP: Colorado Schools, www.kippcolorado.org, Denver, CO
Museum of Northern Arizona, www.musnaz.org, Flagstaff, AZ
Colorado Youth Program, www.coloradoyouthprogram.org, Boulder, CO
Friends of the Dillion Ranger District, www.fdrd.org, Silverthorne, CO
Summerquest – Tree Fighters, Jackson Hole, WY

Smartwool also continues to contributed 2 percent of U.S. sales of women’s PhD running and cycling socks to the SmartWool Breast Cancer Fund, which awards grants to non-profit organizations that use the outdoors, or an outdoor event, to raise awareness of breast cancer and to help with the healing process. Long-term SmartWool Breast Cancer Fund recipients include:

Living Beyond Breast Cancer, www.lbbc.org
Casting for Recovery, www.casting.forrecovery.org
Breast Cancer Fund, www.breastcancerfund.org

Finally, Smartwool affirmed its support of Leave No Trace, www.lnt.org,
Outdoor Industry Association, www.outdoorindustry.org and
Conservation Alliance, www.conservationalliance.com