Keen Footwear To Host Conservation Alliance Fundraiser At OR Show

Keen Footwear will host a benefit for The Conservation Alliance at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer show. As it has at the past two trade shows, Keen will give a pair of shoes to anyone who makes a donation to the Alliance. The event will be on Friday, August 11 at 5 PM at the Keen Footwear booth (#36151).

Participants who donate $50 to The Conservation Alliance will receive a pair of Keen Venice H2 shoes and a Kelty All-Tote bag. Additional donations will fetch items from Patagonia.

“We are grateful to Keen Footwear for their seemingly endless support of our efforts to save wild places for their habitat and recreation values,” said John Sterling, Conservation Alliance Executive Director. “And it’s great to add Kelty and Patagonia products into the mix. People who participate in the event will be support conservation, and walk away with some great products.”

Similar events at the past two OR Shows raised $8,000 and $13,000 respectively for the Alliance.

Prior to the product give-away, The Conservation Alliance will announce all the companies that have joined the organization since the January trade show. Keen will match the first year’s dues of any company that joins the Alliance in 2006.

The event and the dues match are part of an ongoing partnership between the Alliance and Keen aimed at helping the Alliance grow its membership and support efforts to protect wild lands and rivers throughout North America.

Since the partnership began in June, 2005, the Alliance has added 39 new members. By the end of the August OR Show, Keen will have matched more than $150,000 in new member dues.

“We’re excited to help the Conservation Alliance grow,” said Bobbie Parisi, VP of Marketing for Keen. “Our industry needs to do more to save wild places, and no organization is in a better position to help us do that.”

Sterling added that, in addition to a booming membership, The Conservation Alliance is celebrating a record number of conservation victories in 2006.

“Our grants have supported some big victories this year, including the creation of a new Provincial Park in British Columbia, the removal of a dam in Colorado, and the designation of a new Wilderness area in Utah,” he said. “We anticipate several more wins by the end of the year.”


About the Conservation Alliance:
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 $5 million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save over 38 million acres of wildlands; 26 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.

For complete information on the Conservation Alliance, see www.conservationalliance.com.