SmartWool Advocacy Fund Recipients 2011

SmartWool advocacy was born out of our commitment to give back to communities in which our customers and employees live work and play. The SmartWool Advocacy Fund allows the SmartWool team to bring this commitment to life by supporting organizations that ensure future generations will continue to enjoy the outdoors.

“Our commitment to mountain life extends beyond the walls of our office. We want to affect positive change everywhere around us; especially in those places we live, work and play,” explained Hamish Morrin, co-lead for the SmartWool Advocacy Committee. “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.”

The SmartWool Advocacy Fund
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.

SmartWool recently announced its 2011 charitable donations, which includes 30 organizations non-profit organizations around the country ranging in size and subjects from responsible environmental stewardship, outdoor education programming to bike commuting.


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
Believes that every young person has the potential to succeed and to create a full and meaningful life. By providing Wilderness, Leadership, and Learning (WILL) opportunities, WILL helps teens appreciate their individual strengths.
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

The SmartWool Breast Cancer Fund
Two percent of U.S. sales of Women’s PhD Running and Cycling socks are contributed to the SmartWool Breast Cancer Fund. The SmartWool Breast Cancer Fund 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


Outdoor Industry Partners
There are many groups and organizations within the outdoor industry who share our values and work tirelessly not only to ensure future generations will enjoy the outdoor culture, but also that the outdoor industry remains a vibrant piece of our local communities. SmartWool proudly supports some of the best and most influential of these organizations:

Leave No Trace, www.lnt.org
Outdoor Industry Federation, www.outdoorindustry.org
Conservation Alliance, www.conservationalliance.com

To learn more about the advocacy efforts of SmartWool, please visit https://www.smartwool.com/advocacy.