Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 12:December 2014 | Page 19

REPURPOSE FOR A PURPOSE

I

t started as a simple idea: Save
material from landfills and create
new products. This concept led
KEEN to begin making retail
bags from pre-consumer automobile
airbags that had failed to meet specifications. Now the concept is looking
skyward, repurposing old paragliders
into bags and slings, as part of their
“Harvest Collection.”
The beauty in this project is the call
to action and consequential response
from the flying community. Over 120
wings were donated from around the
country. Two sewers working in the
Chico, California, bag-manufacturing
plant pumped out about 30 bags a day,
making a total of 450 for the beginning
phase of the project.
The bags were first released at
KEENFest, which was held in a giant
tent across the street from the annual
Outdoor Retailer (OR) show in Salt
Lake City. The OR show is made up of
manufacturers, including KEEN, who
launch their new products to retailers.
With this year’s theme of “Create with
KEEN,” KEENFest offered a place
to unwind, grab lunch, make a t-shirt,
check out a gigantic nine-piece mural
about a life well-lived by Drew Brophy,
and a get-in-on-the-custom-bag-making
station with bags sewn onsite, all with a
paraglider suspended from the ceiling.
Sales from the initial release of the
bags totaled over $10,000, with sales
of leftover bags slated to bring in over
$20,000 for the Cloudbase Foundation.
But a lump sum donation isn’t where
KEEN stops. David Munk of KEEN,
known as “Munk,” explained, “We
want to share a message of long-term
sustainability, generating slow, longterm effects.” A perfect example is the
current Malawi project: KEEN is supporting the Cloudbase Foundation and
KEEN Ambassador Nick Greece, who

LEFT

Bags | photo by James “Q” Martin.

is working with Godfrey Masauli to
enact his dream of creating a flight and
inspirational school that will tour the
country and work with the children of
Malawi to establish an adventure tourism economy in his home country of
Malawi. A simple cash donation, while
beneficial, is not the end goal.
Godfrey has become an example of
how anything is possible, by becoming Malawi’s first paraglider pilot. By
supporting development of a local site
and empowering Godfrey to build his
dream, the project seeks to create a sustainable tourism economy, while allowing Godfrey to do what he does best:
inspire. Godfrey began working with
Benjamin Jordan, who taught him to
fly. The two men traveled the country
giving inspirational talks to kids and
encouraging them to work hands-on
in kite-building workshops. The sound
of hundreds of children returning his
chants of “NDIZOTHEKA!” (“It is
possible!”) invokes powerful emotion.
Another project recei f