Outdoor Recreation Programs

REI's grant program seeks to engage communities--especially youth--in outdoor recreational activities. As our CEO Sally Jewell writes, "In a time when too many people are over-scheduled and sedentary, we know the outdoors offers the way to a better, healthier life."

Therefore, REI's grants support efforts to make outdoor activities welcoming and accessible to all people.

Below are several examples of REI grants from 2007. During 2007, REI funded 360 groups for an annual total of $3.5 Million in grants. For more information about these groups, please click on the names of the organizations.

  • Wilderness Inquiry
  • Minneapolis, MN $5,062
  • Wilderness Inquiry, the University of Minnesota, the City of St. Paul Parks & Recreation department and the National Recreation & Parks Association are teaming up to offer a combined year-round wilderness adventure program. The Adventure Leadership Program (ALP) and Teens Outside! program will engage young adults ages 13-18 who love the outdoors and want to learn outdoor leadership skills in an advanced wilderness setting. Participants will experience multi-day wilderness trips, skills training, special events, and self-designed projects. This fun and challenging program will teach young adults to develop and model respect for every person regardless of experience, ability, or backgrounds. Activities are offered throughout the year and will include having ALP teen participants mentor and teach outdoor and camping skills to youth in partnership with the City of St Paul Parks and Recreation. Funds from REI provide sleeping bags and tents for participating youth.
  • Alaska Trails
  • Anchorage, AK $5,000
  • Alaska Trails and Singletrack Advocates will design and construct Alaska's first system of soft-surface, narrow trails sustainably-built for mountain bikes and foot traffic. This project will create up to 15 miles of singletrack trail in the northeastern and southeastern areas of Far North Bicentennial Park (FNBP). The secondary goal of this project is to improve local and statewide singletrack trail building capacity by training local equipment operators and volunteers skilled in trail-finishing work. Alaskans will enjoy long term benefits of trails designed for sustainability: lasting for decades, minimizing ongoing maintenance and enhancing the user experience. REI's grrant will provide project materials for trail construction and supplies to support volunteer engagement.
  • Trips for Kids -- Charlotte
  • Charlotte, NC $14,974
  • Trips for Kids -- Charlotte (TfKC) involves youth in outdoor recreation (via bicycling) and environmental stewardship (via trail building and recycling bicycles) throughout the greater Charlotte area. Based on the nationally recognized program model, they provide mountain bike rides, community service, and educational opportunities for youth. In addition to offering regular community rides, the Charlotte, NC chapter has a weekly Earn-a-Bike program through which participating youth take old or donated bikes, learn how to repair and maintain them, and at the end of the program 'earn' the bike to keep for their own use. In addition to expanding their highly successful Earn-a-Bike class to two days a week, they will also work with local citizens from the Lakewood community to develop 1.5 miles of trail on a 15 acre plot of land owned by the community. Funds from REI provide programmatic support for TfKC staff to expand their Earn-a-Bike program and also to build 1.5 miles of trail to IMBA guidelines together with these youth and other community cycling organizations.
  • Colorado Youth Program Inc.
  • Boulder, CO $5,000
  • Colorado Youth Program's (CYP) Adventure Club involves underprivileged kids, ages 11-17, in after-school environmental stewardship projects and weekend recreation outings. Nearly all CYP programs focus on outdoor activities and environmental education. These activities give back to the environment and the community and provide kids with a sense of pride and belonging. Roughly 80% of CYP's youth participants come from low-income families. REI's grant will provide youth with outdoor gear and gear rentals.
  • Red River Division of the American Canoe Association
  • Dallas, TX $5,000
  • The Red River Division of the American Canoe Association (RRACA) works with persons with disabilities who desire an outdoor experience that does not limit them to special events or areas. Through an Intro to Kayaking class the RRACA teaches new paddlers the skills and adaptations necessary to have a safe and enjoyable paddling experience. Both the volunteers making the paddling adaptations and the people for whom the kayak adaptations are being made are learning at the same workshop. While the Intro to Kayaking class is about kayaking, they also place a strong emphasis on stewardship of the waters ways, conservation of our outdoor heritage, and of course, water safety. The water is the great equalizer. It makes special provisions for no one and sees every paddler as the same! Funds from REI support access fees, equipment, teaching supplies and tools for the organization to perform these teaching and paddling sessions.
  • OUTDOORSFORALL Foundation
  • Seattle, WA $5,000
  • The Outdoors for All Foundation is a national leader and one of the largest nonprofit organizations providing year round instruction in outdoor recreation for people with physical, developmental, and sensory disabilities. REI's grant will add new Novara Bonanza Mountain Bikes to Outdoors For All's existing fleet of cycles. The new Novara bikes will allow OFA to better serve children and adults with disabilities through additional cycling options while also providing better support for volunteers to assist and pedal alongside participants with disabilities.

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