Kingdom Trails awarded a VOREC 2023 Community Grant to support inclusive programming!
We are proud to announce that last week, Kingdom Trails was awarded a Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC) 2023 Community Grant for $74,927 to support inclusive mountain bike programming in partnership with the Kingdom East School District (KESD), Unlikely Riders, and POWERED Magazine! KT was one of 51 new recipients in 2023 for grants to boost outdoor recreation across Vermont, totaling $6.3 million!
KESD offers mountain bike programs to school-age youth through after-school and summer camp programs that seek to break barriers for youth enrolled in the school district. POWERED is a nonprofit that offers outdoor recreation clinics to magnify the full spectrum of identities that represent outdoor lovers and promote physical, mental, and social well-being. Unlikely Riders is a nonprofit that offers programs to reduce or eliminate the barriers to mountain biking for BIPOC Vermonters while also creating a community to exist fully and authentically in outdoor recreation spaces.
Through these valuable partnerships, these grant funds will actively support initiatives that promote inclusive, equitable, and diverse programming, incorporating groups facing barriers to entry into mountain biking. These creative and imaginative efforts will allow these groups to engage in programs they might not have accessed otherwise, facilitated by encouragement within a safe and secure affinity space. We recognize our significant economic impact in the region and our role as an exceptional recreational resource that can help provide these opportunities. We are excited to support these programs in this way.
These funds support fall after-school and summer camp youth bike club programs through KESD, host 6 mountain bike clinics for POWERED, and support a mountain bike weekend at KT for Unlikely Riders. In turn, these programs directly support outdoor recreation and community development by encouraging the involvement of our local community, developing, building, and sustaining partnerships with local organizations, and supporting local businesses' efforts to support outdoor recreation and regional economic development.
Finally, this grant encourages environmental action and promotes a healthy lifestyle in our regional community. These programs educate participants on our Ride With Gratitude campaign with Bike Borderlands. Participants learn essential skills that revolve around protecting nature, respecting and showing appreciation for the gift of access, and caring for others around them; all points, in turn, encourage participants to be an example for others outdoors, in life, and on the trail.
Governor Phil Scott established the VOREC Steering Committee by executive order in June 2017 to bring together a broad set of outdoor recreation stakeholders to promote stewardship of state recreation assets and market Vermont’s outdoor recreation values and attributes to effectively foster responsible and sustainable economic growth. We are grateful to the Vermont Legislature for their continued commitment to outdoor recreation! We are equally grateful to our 105 private landowners who make the KT network possible. We #ridewithgratitude for you!
This grant award speaks to KT’s commitment to community investment and our core values to prioritize access and inclusion, embrace outdoor recreation, health, and safety as a shared responsibility, and to grow wisely as we listen, learn, and evolve.
For more information on the VOREC Community Grant award and the awardees, please visit https://fpr.vermont.gov/press-release/63-million-vorec-grants-boost-outdoor-recreation-across-vermont
