Flagstaff, Ariz. (Oct. 10, 2023) – Kahtoola is proud to announce the winners of its 2023 Summer grant allocations: Elevate Nepal, Grand Canyon Youth, Humanitarian Efforts Reaching Out (HERO), Wilderness Volunteers and Young Masterminds Initiative.
Three times a year, Kahtoola’s philanthropy program donates at least 1% of annual sales to nonprofits dedicated to preserving indigenous cultures, promoting environmental responsibility and/or efforts to support the outdoor community.
2023 Summer grant recipients include Elevate Nepal’s Ananda Jyoti Agricultural School Project founded in 2018. The Nepalese school works with village elders to share survival knowledge related to living in the Himalayan hills. This year, the school is conducting experiments on sustainable food production in the region with a focus on the impact of climate change on crops, organic biopesticides and soil health. Grant funds will help the school’s collaboration with village elders to expand these eco-friendly agricultural practices to nearby villages.
Grand Canyon Youth’s Indigenous Youth Rafting Expeditions launched in 2021 to partner cultural knowledge holders with tribal youth participants for a first-of-its-kind all-indigenous youth rafting expedition in the Grand Canyon. With five expeditions scheduled in 2023, grant funds will be used to support the program’s goal to provide access to the outdoors to underrepresented populations, particularly indigenous youth from the Southwest.
Humanitarian Efforts Reaching Out (HERO) Philim Village Project in the Gorkha District of Nepal provides medical clinics and Hepatitis B vaccinations in mountain villages. In 2023, clinics will focus on women’s and maternal health to address the high maternal death rate in the region. Medical resources as well as an education program will be established for frontline nurses and midwives in this remote area to reduce and potentially eliminate unnecessary deaths.
Wilderness Volunteers Oak Creek Canyon Watershed Restoration Project is headquartered in Sedona, Ariz. The watershed project’s goal is to restore and enhance areas along Oak Creek Canyon which sees over 2 million visitors each year. The project will address water contamination and promote ecosystem recovery from the over 400 unsanctioned and illegal social trails that are creating erosion on the landscape.
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Young Masterminds Initiative Camping to Connect (C2C) Project is an experiential mentorship program that uses outdoor recreation and nature immersion to address the diverse issues faced by young men of color in America’s cities from mental health to healthy masculinity. Starting in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, the program has recently expanded to Denver.
“Congratulations to our summer grant recipients, we are humbled by their efforts to make the world a better place for us all,” said Danny Giovale, founder of Kahtoola. “From local projects here in Arizona to those halfway around the world, the goal of our grant program is to support and acknowledge the hard work, dedication and positive impact made by these nonprofits.”
Nonprofits interested in applying for Kahtoola’s 2023 Fall/Winter grant cycle can visit Kahtoola.com. (November 30 deadline).
About Kahtoola:
Since 1999, Kahtoola has been dedicated to empowering people by building exceptional outdoor gear and through a focused commitment to philanthropy, conservation and sustainability. Kahtoola’s gaiters, hiking crampons, and flexible footwear traction systems, including MICROspikes®, EXOspikes™ and NANOspikes®, are built to improve safety and performance in wintry locales around the globe. Every product is thoughtfully designed and vigorously tested at the brand’s Flagstaff, AZ headquarters high on the Colorado Plateau. Owned and operated by founder Danny Giovale, Kahtoola proudly grants 1% of annual sales through the Kahtoola Philanthropy Program to organizations that support indigenous cultures, outdoor community and environmental responsibility. For more information, please visit Kahtoola.com.
