one by one®: Bragg Creek Trails Association
During the pandemic, the number of people using Bragg Creek Trails exploded. Many of them, including families with young children, still return regularly after experiencing the fun and health benefits of trail sports. At the same time, swag sales have become a significant part of fundraising for the Bragg Creek Trails Association, the nonprofit that builds and maintains the trails. So, the board of directors added to its line-up by using its one by one® grant to purchase children’s T-shirts for nonprofits.
“Nonprofits like ours are having to be creative with fundraising abilities and we’ve had a lot of requests for shirts for younger children,” said Conrad Schiebel, board president. “Receiving this grant gave us a shot in the arm to leverage all of the money from sales of the shirts to go directly into the trails.”
Bragg Creek Trails provides a year-round oasis
Bragg Creek is a community west of Calgary in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Trails in the community link to others in Kananaskis Country, a public land use area that contains recreational and protected areas. The trails are also part of the Trans Canada Trail, which connects Canada coast to coast, including north to the Arctic Ocean.
During the summer, Bragg Creek Trails are enjoyed by hikers, horseback riders and non-motorized bikers. In the winter, cross country skiers and snowshoers use the trails, along with those who ride fat-tire bikes.
Children enjoying more than T-shirts for nonprofits
In addition to larger crowds using the trails and asking for more merch, Bragg Creek Trails Association recently hit a milestone. It finished paving the trail from the community into Kananaskis Country.
“It’s gratifying to see more people using the paved trail, including kids riding bikes to school,” said Schiebel. “When the trail was gravel, it wasn’t being used much and now it’s a major piece of infrastructure for the community.”
New online community launched
With more people using Bragg Creek Trails, the association has expanded its focus to also promoting trail etiquette to reduce user conflict. It created a new volunteer trail host program to help, and formed an online trail community so supporters can feel like they are part of the vision and become even more engaged.
A note from Cheryl
We love to hear that more families are enjoying the outdoors and that there were requests for children’s T-shirts for nonprofits. It’s also great that the grant allows Bragg Creek Trails Association to put more money directly into the trails. If you’re interested in a one by one grant, visit onebyone.4imprint.ca.