Celebrating 25 Years On The Path Of Service



Celebrating 25 Years On The Path Of Service


Back in 1992, we asked ourselves "how can we go beyond making great products that enable adventure and really make a difference as an organization in the communities in which we live, work and explore?" Our answer - create the Path of Service program, which allows our employees to tap into their passions, engage, and connect with their communities.

For 25 years now, we have been making connections – serving over 1.2 million hours and planting over 9 million trees to preserve the outdoors. In 2016 alone, we organized and served in over 450 volunteer events worldwide.

But we are only getting started. We want to do more.

So to kick off the celebration of our 25th anniversary of our award-winning Path of Service program we launched a 25 Days of Service Challenge, where we asked employees to break out of their everyday work roles and pledge time to volunteer. Employees are making time to support our communities, better the outdoors and connect with people and their passions.

"To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Path of Service™ program, we wanted to return to the roots of the program and equip employees to serve in ways that speak to their passions," said Atlanta McIlwraith, Senior Manager of Community Engagement and Communication.

In preparation for the Challenge, we hosted a Volunteer Fair to connect employees to potential service opportunities. At the Fair, over 20 non-profit organizations from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine offered employees opportunities to use their service hours during the Challenge time frame and beyond. Employees had their pick of diverse service opportunities including: working with service dogs to support mobility-challenged kids and adults; delivering meals to seniors and families in need; working with a non-partisan organization to inform voters; socializing with seniors; improving the quality of life for kids with cancer; planning climbing opportunities for kids with sick parents; supporting land conservation; and much more.

The Volunteer Fair and the challenge are ways to help open employee’s minds to a wide range of service opportunities that maybe they had never imagined. "I can use my service hours to run a saw mill for a non-profit farm that supports beginning organic farmers? I can get down with that," said Jonathan Morris, an interactive designer for Timberland. "Woodworking is a hobby of mine, and I look forward to applying those skills -- and using some big power tools -- in service to the community."

Our anniversary celebration culminates at our global company-wide service event, Servapalooza, where we shut down our offices to make the most connections of the year, all around the world.