REI Cooperative Action Fund makes record investment, contributing $6.1 million to more than 260 organizations creating a more equitable outdoors

REI Fund's grant cycle made possible by 1 million individual donations from REI customers, members, employees, and ongoing support from corporate partners

SEATTLE, Nov. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The REI Cooperative Action Fund is making its largest-ever investment, distributing $6.1 million to 264 nonprofit organizations working to create a more equitable outdoors. The record contribution comes as the REI Fund has surpassed 1 million individual donations from REI customers, members, and employees. As a community-supported nonprofit, the REI Fund is fueled by donations from individuals, foundations and corporate partners including REI Co-op and Capital One.

"The REI Cooperative Action Fund was founded on the principle that we can do more together than we can as individuals," said Kristen Ragain, managing director of the REI Cooperative Action Fund. "Thanks to the generosity of the co-op community—who have collectively made more than a million contributions to the REI Fund—we've been able to scale and localize our impact."

The REI Fund was launched in 2021 to bring together the collective strength of the co-op community.  Each year the REI Fund announces new investments in the spring and fall to provide unrestricted funding to nonprofit partners that are strengthening the health and well-being of communities through time outside. This latest investment brings the REI Fund's total 2023 giving to $10.1 million.

More than 200 of the REI Fund's latest grantees are local organizations championed by REI employees who work in-store. The ability to extend the REI Fund's investment to local communities across the country is made possible by a generous donation from Capital One. Grantees include:

• Baztec Fishing & Outdoors provides fishing and outdoors experiential education opportunities to underserved communities, with a focus on bilingual and BIPOC youth. (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
• Bronx River Alliance is a partnership with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation that engages communities, organizations and government along the Bronx River corridor to restore the river ecosystem and improve and activate public green spaces. (New York City)
• Indigenous Wellness Research Institute supports the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples to achieve full and complete health and wellness by collaborating in decolonizing research while building and sharing knowledge. (Seattle)
• Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project ensures that historically and deliberately excluded communities have access to the outdoors and that people, history, and values are authentically reflected in public land and conservation management decision-making. (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
• Outdoor Inclusion Coalition supports Pennsylvanians through programs dedicated to attracting, engaging, and retaining underrepresented populations in the outdoor industry. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• Pacoima Beautiful is a grassroots environmental justice organization that provides education, impacts local policy, and supports local arts and culture to promote a healthy and sustainable Northeast San Fernando Valley. (Pacoima, California)
• StreetWaves exposes children to the ocean whose socioeconomic backgrounds may have excluded them from the ocean and shoreline. (Delray Beach, Florida)
• Yellow Bird Life Ways nurtures the breath of life by reminding, reconnecting, and reclaiming land, language, culture, and identity. Yellow Bird seeks to address the intergenerational impacts of trauma to heal and strengthen generational hope, resilience, and wisdom. (Lame Deer, Montana)

For a full list of grantees, visit REIFund.org/grantees.

The REI Fund focuses on three specific priorities: connecting people outside, creating space outside, and centering health outside. The REI Fund also plays a critical role in advancing REI Co-op's Outside in 5 initiative, which brings together the co-op's 23-million-member community to partner with nonprofits and support legislation to help everyone in America get outside in five minutes, no matter where they live.

As a 501(c)(3) organization, the REI Fund is led by its own board of directors with the support of a dedicated staff and compensated community advisors, who are respected leaders focused on access and equity in the outdoors. REI Co-op continues to provide ongoing support for the REI Fund's operations and grantmaking. Anyone can participate in the REI Fund's mission from direct donations to recommending a grantee. 

About the REI Cooperative Action Fund

The REI Cooperative Action Fund is a 501(c)(3) public charity launched in 2021 by REI Co-op to create a more equitable outdoors by bringing together the collective strength of the co-op community. The REI Fund aims to inspire millions of REI members, thousands of REI employees, and hundreds of nonprofit partners and community leaders to support organizations that are improving the well-being of all people through time outside. With ongoing support from REI Co-op, 100% of donations from the general public to the REI Fund go to the people and organizations leading this work in communities across the country. 

SOURCE REI Co-op