RALEIGH, NC – Customers of Great Outdoor Provision Co. got more than a great deal on outdoor gear this month – they helped preserve open space within North Carolina.
Customers voted for natural areas to save as a new recreation destination. The contest was a part of Great Outdoor Provision Co.’s celebration of Land Trust Day, an annual celebration in which local businesses and the state’s land trusts work together to save natural areas in the community. Patagonia, the manufacturer of outdoor clothing and equipment, provided underwriting for the contest with a $3,000 grant to help protect the chosen site which was the Piedmont Regional Greenway. To read about details of this project, visit: https://greatoutdoorprovision.com/culture/wesupport/patagonia-land-grant/
In addition to sponsoring the contest, Great Outdoor Provision Co. donates 10 percent of sales on Land Trust Day from each of its nine stores to land trusts that serve the stores’ regions. Volunteers from the local land trusts were on hand to share information with customers. The North Face, Royal Robbins and ExOfficio provided gifts for those who joined the land trust that day. Including the grant, Great Outdoor Provision Co. donated $13,000 to local land trusts this year.
“We wanted to use this year’s Land Trust Day to highlight the rapid rate at which North Carolina is losing – and will continue to lose – its beautiful open spaces to development.” said Tom Valone, Great Outdoor Provision Co. president. “The contest was a way for us to make our customers aware of the work land trusts are doing to save the places we all love.”
Land Trust Day was founded by Great Outdoor Provision Co. in 1992 as a way to celebrate National Trails Day, which is always the first Saturday of June. To read more about Land Trust Day, visit: https://greatoutdoorprovision.com/culture/wesupport/land-trust-day/
“We see Land Trust Day as a way for businesses to participate in a self-imposed ‘earth tax’,” said Valone. “Many people do not realize the important work land trusts are doing in their communities. We hope by supporting land trusts we are calling attention to their good work and contributing to it.”