Sole Sends Volunteer Team To Assist With Big City Mountaineers Youth Wilderness Program, Donates $280,000 To The Nonprofit

Employees from the industry’s leader in pain reduction and orthopedic health, Sole, returned July 3rd from a week-long backpacking trip through the Pacific Northwest led by nonprofit expedition group, Big City Mountaineers. In addition to donating $10,000 to sponsor the expedition, SOLE has donated $280,000 to Big City Mountaineers to date.

Three Sole employees acted as volunteer trail mentors for the inner-city youth on the first collaborative expedition between the two organizations. The team put both the company’s philosophy of helping people enjoy the outdoors and the company’s high quality, sustainable footwear to the test by hiking miles through the Mt. Hood National Forest alongside teenage boys from the Big City Mountaineers program. The employees served as positive role models and mentors for the boys, who were provided with the company’s insoles to wear during the trip.

“Considering some of their back stories, it was amazing to see the humor and sense of adventure the kids had,” said Andrew Yule, Sole’s Purchasing Manager who attended the trip. “Nature was definitely the ‘great equalizer’ allowing these kids to be kids.”

Employees returning from the trip said that mentoring the boys helped them to develop a deeper level of empathy, improve their leadership skills, and learn more about the culture of today’s youth.

Sole has a long-standing relationship with Big City Mountaineers. The organization is one of Sole's three beneficiaries to which the company donates a portion of each purchase of its Performance footbed collection. To date, Sole has donated more than $280,000 to Big City Mountaineers.

As always, Sole will be donating all of the proceeds from its coffee bar, cash footbed sales and “Brands for Better” sustainability event at the 2018 Summer Outdoor Retailer show this month.