After six years, Stephen Hatfield, the Forest Park’s Conservancy’s Stewardship Director, has accepted a tremendously exciting professional opportunity with FPC’s partner REI as their new Outdoor Programs & Outreach Market Manager.
In his new role, Stephen will be developing and overseeing REI’s outdoor education, volunteerism, recreation programs, and community events within the Portland region. The FPC has greatly benefited from his wisdom and willingness to work with the organization’s leadership to grow The Conservancy’s stature, accomplishments and successes.
Stephen Hatfield (left) of the Forest Park Conservancy and Chris Enlow (right) of KEEN taking some time to visit during an event at KEEN’s office.
On September 9th, a group of 11 people from KEEN went to Woodlawn Elementary School in Portland, Oregon to deliver more than 500 backpacks filled with school supplies to the entire school. The KEEN Garage had an in-store campaign where they pledged to donate a filled backpack for every pair of shoes sold to Schoolhouse Supplies. The kids, ranging in ages from kindergarten to 8th grade were so excited for and appreciative of their new packs. Each KEEN Skyline and Eaton backpack contained loose leaf paper, crayons or markers, erasers, glue sticks and pencils. What a great way to start the school year!
Donated backpacks and school supplies
The ever important eraser!
Ready for delivery
Carting the backpacks into the school
Ready for the school year
The volunteer group
This effort is part of the KGW School Supply Drive to encourage people to make cash and loose supply donations, with the purpose of sending 8,000 local area children back to school with the basic school supplies that they couldn’t otherwise afford.
The Backyard Collective provides a great way for CA member companies to volunteer together and to give back to their communities. More than 250 volunteers from CA member companies participated, including KEEN, Columbia Sportswear, Icebreaker, Merrell, Horny Toad, REI, and Egan & Associates.
We split up into teams and headed into the park to work alongside staff and volunteers from the FPC and the City of Portland’s Parks & Recreation Department. The name of the game was trail maintenance and restoration: pulling invasives, hauling rocks, shoveling gravel, digging dirt and re-sculpting the slope. The KEEN team got a special treat! We deconstructed a walking bridge and hauled out the water-logged boards 1 mile back to the trailhead.
Kirsten and Amy (left to right) with crowbars in hand
Susan, Taylor and Marco (left to right) removing nails
“Here [is a] photo of my boots on the tallest dune in the world, located in Namibia, watching the sunrise. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, located in the north of the country!”
- Nicholas
Click here to learn more about the US Peace Corps in Namibia.
“While volunteering in rural Tanzania recently, sometimes the trails through the forests and even the dirt trails would become confusing and I’d second-guess if I was going in the right direction… Then I’d stumble upon some footprints and knew I was following my own path… Prints in red soil, where my heart now lies…”
On Thursday January 28th, The Freshwater Trust (TFT) hosted its annual Salmon Watch Appreciation Event for teachers, volunteers and program partners. This event is a thank you to TFT’s 200+ volunteers and a way to recognize highlights from the Salmon Watch education program which serves over 5,000 students across the state of Oregon every fall.
This year as our “keynote” for the evening, TFT invited 5 exceptional students from New Urban HS, David Douglas HS and Multnomah Youth Cooperative to share about their experience in Salmon Watch and Student Stewardship Projects on a student panel so volunteers could hear first hand, how they have been able to make a positive contribution through this program. Over 75 of our partners, volunteers and teachers attended to socialize, network and hear directly from the students about their connection to the natural world.
Big City Mountaineers (BCM) just announced the winners of their Teen and Adult Personal Expression contest, as well as their Volunteer Award. BCM is a KEEN Hybrid.Care partner that is committed to enhancing the lives of urban youth through transformative outdoor experiences.
Here are the winners. . .
Teen Personal
Expressions Winner
Hajia Muya
Hi my name is Hajia and I am from Kenya, I was originally born in Somalia. My parents left Somalia in 1992 when the war broke out, the same war that is still going on now. My family is Somali Bantu and we were thought of as the lower class so my parents left the country for a better life for their kids. After many stops we settled in a Kenyan Refugee Camp. Life in the camp was fascinating because I met new people who were different, spoke different languages and it was amazing how even though we were all different we got along . . . click here to continue reading.
Adult Personal
Expressions Winner
MK Sagaria
city kids outdoors
no hip hop or Xbox here
just nature’s rhythms
a cool mountain night
girls giggling in their tents
sleeping under stars
setting out on trails
it’s a BCM summer
kids forging new paths
For all Adult Personal Expressions winners, click here.
Skip Yowell Volunteer Award Winner
Pat Callahan
BCM is excited to give this year’s award to Pat Callahan. Pat embodies the spirit of Skip Yowell through exceptional service and commitment to helping BCM fulfill its mission of enhancing the lives of under-resourced teens.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” Pat says about his BCM trips. Pat has made this apparent over the past 10 years through his relentless enthusiasm for BCM, our program and the teens we serve. He became involved with BCM in 1999 by volunteering once a week in our Evergreen office doing whatever needed to be done . . . click here to continue reading.
I drove out to Vermont to lend a hand and thank volunteers doing trail work in Upper West Bolton. This was an event I heard about from The Conservation Alliance Backyard Collective, a co-sponsor of this trail day. KEEN provided 2 pairs of shoes to lucky raffle winners and free chapstick to all!!
This is a trail that winds up to a beautiful rock face that just begs to be climbed. Fifty-six volunteers showed up and helped build a 300 ft long rock staircase.
I personally helped to install the new sign that will post information. There were no post hole diggers, so we dug by hand to get down 3+ feet. This was at the beginning of the trail, so once it was finished, we took the hike to the top. The views were spectacular and the sun was going to set soon. But, I was determined to set one stair and at that perfect, with no wobble. It took me an hour to set it right, but in the end I was proud!
We left with full bellies from lunch provided, bags full of free stuff from Black Diamond and Stanley, and dirt on our shoes!
The tough economy has touched us all. Most of us have put off vacations, started using mass transit, or have cut out lattes to make ends meet. For many others, simply feeding their family is major financial challenge. In the spirit of Create.Play.Care, KEEN’s Customer Service team recently spent an afternoon helping to feed those facing hunger in Oregon and neighboring Clark County, WA.
Led by KEEN Chief Operating Officer Dave Boeschenstein and Customer Service Manager Mary Hardaker, the team organized, packaged, and packed donated food at the Oregon Food Bank. This food will be distributed to six regional food banks and to hundreds of local emergency food pantries throughout the state. According to OFB Volunteer Manager Star Farris, over 240,000 residents of Oregon and Clark County, WA are facing crisis levels of hunger. Compounding this problem is Oregon’s 11.3% rate of unemployment, the fifth highest figure in the nation. With such demand, food, money, and volunteer labor donations are greatly needed and appreciated by the people and agencies seeking to alleviate the suffering caused by hunger. In conjunction with other volunteer groups, KEEN’s team helped process over eight tons of food that will provide sustenance for 12,000 hungry people.
Hunger and tough times don’t respect state lines. To find out how you can help in your community, visit Feeding America at www.feedingamerica.org.
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