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 

Recap of the 7/11/2026 KT Community Chat at Firefly Farm

By The KT Team • July 14, 2026
7/11/26 Community Chat

Canadian Community Month

By The KT Team • July 6, 2026
Canadian Community Month Offers Below Kingdom Trails Kingdom Trails is a world-renowned, community-supported trail network at the heart of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, built through long-standing landowner partnerships and careful stewardship. It remains the central hub of the region’s mountain biking community. As part of Canadian Community Month, Canadian visitors are welcomed with special membership access and benefits designed to make visiting more accessible. Offers: Canadian dollars accepted at par for annual and day memberships purchased in-person at the Kingdom Trails Welcome Center New and current Canadian annual members will receive a complimentary guest day membership to share with a friend or family member, redeemable anytime during the 2026 riding season. Canadians who purchased day memberships earlier this season may upgrade to annual memberships at par, with the amount already paid in USD credited toward the upgrade Please note that the at-par rates will be applied at checkout in USD as a discount according to the current daily exchange rate; the KT Welcome Center is unable to accept Canadian currency at this time.

July E-Newsletter

By The KT Team • July 6, 2026
From the Executive Director: Hi Everyone! Well, July has certainly brought the heat, but luckily here at KT there are plenty of shady trails to choose from. Speaking of trails...we are opening a new one this weekend: "Cheddar Slice" connects the bottom of Butter Tubs to the bottom of the Dashney Loop, creating a roughly 4-mile family-friendly loop and adding another way to connect the Moose Alley and Dashney zones. Connectivity has been a big focus this year, and there is more to come later this season. Thank you to all our generous Landowners, members and supporters. Have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Fourth of July!! -Georgia Celebrate the Fourth with Us! As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we invite you to celebrate with us throughout the month of July. If you're riding on Saturday, July 4, be sure to stop by our newly refreshed Welcome Center! We'll be serving complimentary cookies and lemonade throughout the day—a small way of celebrating the holiday and welcoming riders, families, and visitors to Kingdom Trails. Later in the month, join us at Lyndonville's Stars & Stripes Celebration on Saturday, July 18. The celebration begins with the 10:00 a.m. parade, followed by the festival, where you'll find the Kingdom Trails tent. Stop by to say hello, learn about our newest initiatives and chat with our staff about everything happening at Kingdom Trails this summer. The festival runs from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and features food trucks, vendors, children's activities, live music, a Rotary BBQ, axe throwing, and more—making it a fun day for the whole family. We hope you'll stop by, say hello, and celebrate with us! CLICK HERE to read the full newsletter.
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