W.L. Gore & Associates and the Gore-Tex brand of products has signed on as a Platinum Level sponsor of the Outdoor Foundation’s Outsiders Ball for a third year in a row. Thanks to broad industry support over the past two years, the event has funded 200 local community projects connecting more than 30,000 youth with outdoor recreation activities.
“In addition to our work together with Friends of Camp Colton and the Chesapeake Wilderness Institute at North Bay to provide educational experiences for the middle-school youth in the Flagstaff and Cecil County communities, we are excited to see the work of the Outdoor Foundation reach the University student population with the expansion of the College Challenge program” says Tom Boyle, Gore Fabrics Marketing.
The Outsiders Ball is the only industry-wide charitable event that invests in future outdoor consumers. The goal of Outsiders Ball is to raise funding and awareness of the growing divide between young people and nature. The funds raised will go to projects that activate a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts and customers.
This year’s Outsiders Ball will take place on the evening of August 4th at the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 2015 event is expected to draw more than 1,000 industry leaders for an eclectic night of entertainment, competition, music, delicious food and libations. The Outdoor Foundation invites every brand, business and individual to get involved in one of four ways; sponsoring the event, supporting a project for $1,000, purchasing a ticket or donating gear for the auction.
This month as incentive for all Outdoor Industry Association members to attend, tickets are discounted to $100 from $150 for members who use the code OIAMEMBERLOVE at checkout. For more information, email Chris Fanning at cfanning@outdoorfoundation.org and purchase tickets at outsidersball.org.
“The Foundation is thrilled to have the support of Gore-Tex again this year,” said Chris Fanning, executive director of the Outdoor Foundation. “With its unwavering commitment, Gore-Tex will help rally the outdoor industry around one common cause – connecting a new generation of customers and activists with the outdoors.”
The 2014 Outsiders Ball raised nearly $300,000 and funded projects that engaged more than 25,000 Americans across the United States in outdoor activities. Eighty percent of participants were youth, and they spent a collective 171,817 hours outdoors.
Outsiders Ball is the flagship fundraising events for The Outdoor Foundation, the industry's national not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and growing future generations of outdoor leaders and enthusiasts. Through groundbreaking research, youth engagement and community grant-making, the Foundation works with young leaders and partners to mobilize a major cultural shift that leads all Americans to the great outdoors. In just five years, the Foundation has invested $4 million into 500 not-for-profit and college programs that have connected 200,00 young people to the outdoors. Importantly, 90¢ of every dollar goes directly into this critical work.
