Big City Mountaineers Expands with Timberland Support to Serve East Coast youth

(Golden, Colo.) – Big City Mountaineers (BCM), the non-profit that instills critical life skills in under-resourced urban youth through wilderness mentoring expeditions, and partner Timberland, a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories, will serve Boston-area youth this summer by enabling kids to get outside with positive adult role models.

Timberland is providing both financial and product support to fulfill BCM’s strategic goal of expanding its programs to east coast youth participants. This support helps to achieve BCM’s strategic plan of changing more young lives across the country. Currently mentoring 2,000 young adults outdoors this summer, BCM plans to reach 8,000 youth in need by 2015.

“Timberland values the impact of outdoor mentoring on young lives and through this sponsorship, has taken an important step to ensure that more youth in its New England community are able to gain integrity, responsibility, decision-making and conflict resolution skills that BCM programs provide,” comments Lisa Mattis, BCM Executive Director.

“Timberland is proud to support Big City Mountaineers and the great work they do mentoring urban youth,” said Cassie Heppner, Senior Marketing Manager for Timberland. “BCM’s programs provide an opportunity for under-resourced kids to have a positive experience that can lead to a life-long love and appreciation for time spent outdoors. I can’t think of a better way to inspire young people.”

Along with financial support, Timberland has also provided BCM with 200 pairs of hiking boots for students across the country participating in BCM backpacking expeditions.

About Big City Mountaineers
Big City Mountaineers (BCM), which serves youth in eight cities across the country, was founded in 1989 to instill critical life skills in underserved urban youth through transformative wilderness mentoring expeditions. BCM’s model is to partner with a vibrant network of youth-based agencies that work with under-resourced, racially diverse young people who often have no experience outside of their neighborhoods. BCM expeditions provide under-resourced youth with the tools and positive reinforcement needed to overcome obstacles and strive for a better future. BCM leverages the challenges inherent in wilderness adventure with a one:one mentoring model and time-tested curriculum designed to teach and empower youth. For more information, please visit bigcitymountaineers.org.

About Timberland
Timberland, a wholly owned subsidiary of VF Corporation, is a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories for consumers who value the outdoors and their time in it. Timberland markets products under the Timberland®, Timberland PRO®, Mountain Athletics® and Timberland Boot Company® brands, all of which offer quality workmanship and detailing and are built to withstand the elements of nature. The company’s products can be found in leading department and specialty stores as well as Timberland® retail stores throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, South America, South Africa and the Middle East. Timberland’s dedication to making quality products is matched by the company’s commitment to “doing well and doing good” – forging powerful partnerships among employees, consumers and service partners to transform the communities in which they live and work. To learn more about Timberland, please visit www.timberland.com.

For more information regarding BCM, please contact Heather Metivier at heather@bigcitymountaineers.org or (303) 271-9200 ext. 407.