Keen Footwear, based in Portland, OR, has been surrounded by about 40 wildfires raging over the past few weeks and has decided to take action. Starting today, the company will be donating 1 percent of U.S. sales from keenfootwear.com, up to a total of $20,000, to the following relief programs: United Way Bay Area’s Greater Bay Area Central Coast Wildfire Relief Fund. Donations will be applied to immediate and long-term recovery assistance for residents of the Bay Area, Wine Country, Monterey County and Santa Cruz County. Those affected by the wildfires will be served with an initial focus on housing and cash assistance to displaced families and other identified immediate needs.
Funds will also be distributed to the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette’s Wildfire Response and Recovery Fund. UWCW is working with nonprofit partners in the Portland metro area and southwestern Washington to prioritize families of color affected by the fires, providing them with immediate relief assistance. Keen donation will help provide displaced families with access to food, shelter, childcare, healthcare and other critical services.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown says this will likely turn out to be the most deadly, costly and widest-reaching fire event the state has ever seen. Washington Governor Jay Inslee echoes the same, noting that more Washington acreage burned in the past 24 hours than in 12 of the past 18 fire seasons. And, for weeks, California has been battling significant and deadly wildfires from north to south, with massive amounts of smoke filling the Bay Area. In fact, the fires are still burning and the need is only growing. Keen believes together is always the best way to make a bigger difference and encourages others to support these organizations.
