Celebrate Acts of Service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

January 15, 2024

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is; What are you doing for others?”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Today is MLK Day and a National Day of Service. Not only do we celebrate King’s legacy and reflect on his powerful contributions to our nation, we honor his memory by acting on his call to the service of others. When we recognize that the numerous gifts made abundant in our lives come to us unearned, entitlement falls away, and our mindset turns to grateful living. This allows us to see the difficulties experienced by others as equally undeserved and creates a drive in us to make sure that all people have access to the safety, rights, comfort, and privileges that we might enjoy.


The impact of grateful living is that it cultivates a sense of sufficiency and abundance, instilling in us a desire to serve others with the courage and commitment that supports meaningful change. In a 1968 sermon, Dr. King shared, “If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, then my living will not be in vain….I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others so that we can make of this old world a new world.” 


Kingdom Trails recognizes our own impact on the local community, both economic and social. Mountain biking is an expensive sport that can create an economic barrier for youth participation who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. We find that KT's role in providing opportunities to youth is vital to the growth of a healthy community, as our organization is a community-built, led, and based non-profit organization. 


Today, we’d like to honor many of our partners who offer opportunities for service through programming for marginalized groups that promote well-being, diversity, equity, and inclusion. These opportunities contribute to the KT mission and uplift our core values that define KT in our shared community; “We prioritize access and inclusion,” and “We embrace outdoor recreation, health, and safety as a shared responsibility.” 


  • KT partners with         Powered Magazine, a local nonprofit and quarterly publication whose mission is to increase BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color) access and expand participation in outdoor activities by combining education and training in a safe and comfortable environment to celebrate joy of being outdoors. In 2023, KT and Powered partnered to create an affinity space that provided programming for BIPOC youth and adults to learn the joys of mountain biking in a safe and supportive environment, with plans to offer this programming opportunity in 2024!  Read more about the program here! 
  • KT partners with and supports the Kingdom East School District bike club and summer camp programs to provide trail access for disadvantaged youth from many different backgrounds in the NEK. This youth program offers after-school and summer camp opportunities. It breaks financial and cultural barriers to allow youth to learn how to mountain bike while promoting a healthy lifestyle outdoors. Find out more about the program here! 
  • KT partners with Northwoods Stewardship Center and Burke Mountain to offer KT Kids Ride, a weekly summer bike ride hosted for youth ages 7-14. This ride is free to KT members and presented at the low cost of $5 for non-members. The program is a wonderful educational tool for youth to learn about the KT trails, their surrounding environment, and healthy outdoor exercise. Find out more about the program here! 
  • KT also supports Northwoods Stewardship Center through a scholarship program to give more youth the opportunity to participate in their mountain bike camp. Summer camp program for students with a passion for exploring and understanding the natural world while developing technical mountain biking skills in a safe, fun, and adventurous environment, along with sharing the Ride With Gratitude campaign for sustainable trails and communities. Find out more about the program here! 
  • KT supports Kingdom Kids, a volunteer local nonprofit that works to provide access to the trails for youth through KT memberships and Burke Mountain pass scholarships! Find out more about the program here! 


These are a few programs KT participates in, but we know that many programs, organizations, schools, and individuals are doing their part to make outdoor recreation more accessible in the NEK! Contact us at info@kingdomtrails.org if you have any questions on how you can get involved in community programming with KT or our partner organizations! 


RESOURCES: 


Read more about MLK’s “Beloved Community”: https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/the-king-philosophy/ 


Read more about “Grateful Living”: https://grateful.org/resource/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-to-serve/ 


Read more about the history behind MLK Day, and how you can celebrate it: https://www.dosomething.org/us/articles/martin-luther-king-jr-day 

Leadership Transition Announced at Kingdom Trails and the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative

By Sven Cole • July 25, 2025
Dear KT Community, I write to you today as I begin a transition in my relationship with Kingdom Trails. I have made the difficult decision to take the next step in my professional journey and step away from my role as Executive Director. Serving Kingdom Trails and this incredible community over the past eight years has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I am deeply proud of the work I’ve led and supported, from navigating immense global challenges and natural disasters, to forging incredible relationships, with our landowners and community. And throughout this journey, the Northeast Kingdom has become not just where I live, but truly my home. It’s the place I chose to become a mother and where my family has put down roots. That said, I am ready to explore new ways to serve this community, ways that will allow me to continue growing as a leader. I’ve accepted the role of Interim Executive Director for the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative, where I will carry forward the work I fell in love with through Kingdom Trails: strengthening our communities and supporting thoughtful economic development. In this new role, I’ll have the opportunity to advocate not only for outdoor recreation, which is so essential to the heart of our region, but also for the many sectors that make the Northeast Kingdom such a unique and vibrant place. Please know I remain deeply committed to Kingdom Trails. This is my home, and it will remain my home. I wish to always be an ambassador for KT, including playing a role in ensuring a graceful, responsible transition with care. The Board of Directors and I have committed to this, to ensure continuity, stability, and the trust you hold in this organization. I am grateful beyond words for the opportunity to have served my community through this role, and I look forward to closing this chapter with the same heart and good intention with which I began it. Georgia Gould is stepping in as interim Executive Director to lead the organization through this transition. Georgia has served on the KT Board of Directors since 2021, leading both the Landowner and Trail Advisory Committees. She is a KT Landowner with an impressive mountain biking and cyclocross resume - including a bronze medal in one of her two Olympic bids on Team USA and five career national championships in cross-country and short track mountain biking. Georgia, her husband Dusty, and their two young children are engaged members of the Burke community and the KT team. Her deep ties to the sport of cycling, dedication to providing great trails for all skill levels, and her love of this community make her the perfect choice to lead KT in its next phase. The Board and I are thrilled that Georgia has agreed to lead KT and feel confident that she will hold the mission of the organization at the center as she has throughout her Board service. You can reach Georgia directly and welcome her to this new role at ED@kingdomtrails.org . With deep gratitude, Abby ### Kingdom Trail Association The mission of the Kingdom Trail Association is to provide recreation and education opportunities by managing, maintaining, and building trails to foster the health of our community, surrounding environment, and regional economy. Kingdom Trails strives to accomplish this mission by offering a 100+ mile network of quality, non-motorized, multi-use trails for all levels of ability, incorporating the best of our local scenery and natural diversity. The Kingdom Trails are made possible through the generosity of 106 private landowners. Northeast Kingdom Collaborativ e The mission of the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative is to improve the quality of life for all residents of the NEK through coordinated economic and community development as the vision is a strong, vibrant Northeast Kingdom where we all thrive. The NEKC brings people together to spark positive change in our communities, creating structures that bring partners together across service areas, sectors, municipal and political boundaries to provide solutions for the renewal of the Kingdom. The NEK Collaborative serves as the backbone organization for the federally designated NEK REAP Zone and community partner for USDA Rural Development.

Cannondale Becomes KT's First Corporate Sponsor

By Sven Cole • June 17, 2025
Cannondale Dirt Party a Success
Vermont State Treasurer, Mike Pieciak, speaks at the 2025 Outdoor Recreation Day at the Statehouse

KT is taking action—on the trails and in the Statehouse!

By Abby Long • February 13, 2025
KT is taking action—on the trails and in the Statehouse! This 2025 Legislative Session, KT is teaming up with other amazing trail organizations through the Vermont Trails & Greenway Council, to advocate for H.147 a bill to establish the Recreational Trails Compensation Study. Why does this matter? Vermont’s outdoor recreation economy generates $2.1B annually, nearly 5% of the state’s GDP, that's 2nd in the nation after Hawaii (Go VT!) KT alone drives $10M in economic impact annually. Therefore, the state must recognize and incentivize these generous private landowners, including the 106 who make KT possible and allow public access to trails.
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