Last Updated: 23.Mar.2017

This month, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center donated over $2500 from revenue generated by the 2017 Craftsbury Marathon to four different local charities as well as the Protect Our Winters Foundation. As part of the Center’s mission to promote sustainability and support the local community, we aim to give back to organizations that share our goals. These organizations, whether mobilizing the winter sports community for climate action, or supporting local food systems, look towards a better future for us all, one that we hope includes many years of continued marathon racing in Craftsbury! We encourage you to check out the charities (linked below) and consider donating on your own.

This year’s recipients are as follows:

• The Protect Our Winters Foundation is a passionate crew of diehards, professional athletes and industry brands mobilizing the outdoor sports community to lead the charge towards positive climate action. They focus on educational initiatives, political advocacy and community-based activism.

• The Hardwick Area Food Pantry is a vital resource for Hardwick and the surrounding communities. Along with serving 4,700 people with emergency food, they also aim to help people become more food secure through public gardens and teaching healthy ways to buy, prepare, and preserve food.

• Northeast Kingdom Youth Services (NEKYS) is the leading not-for-profit youth organization responding to the needs of youth and families in Caledonia and Southern Essex Counties. NEKYS started in the spring of 1975 to help homeless youth find supportive and safe places that were off the streets of our communities. Throughout their 40-year history, NEKYS has built a strong continuum of care to help individuals, youth, and families reach their highest potential.

• The mission of the Center for an Agricultural Economy is to engage the public in building a regenerative, locally based, healthy food system through collaboration opportunities, food access and hunger relief, educational outreach and providing infrastructure. They believe in working lands, working people, and local food.

• Hardwick Emergency Rescue is a private, non-profit, primarily volunteer ambulance service in northern Vermont which services portions of Caledonia, Lamoille, Orleans, and Washington counties. They provide basic life support and limited advanced life support service in their coverage area, and have access to other advanced life support services, when necessary.