North Face Launches "Share The Passion Project"

Filipino mountain climber Romi Garduce poses with two children in this undated photo sent to the Mindanao Examiner Friday Sept. 07, 2007.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - In its effort to help raise awareness of social and environmental issues facing the country, expedition apparel maker The North Face (TNF) calls to share the passion.

Dubbed "Share the Passion", TNF's new advocacy plan is working to fund several charities and causes in the country through its Never Stop Exploring Passion information kit and "Share the Passion" t-shirt. The shirt is a subtle yet powerful call to action for people to join TNF in its commitment to highlight as well as develop solutions to the country's social and environmental concerns.

Patrons of the shirt can opt to which foundation and cause the proceeds will go. The Share the Passion Project features four advocacy activities: a climbing mission, a mountain bike tour, and two scientific expeditions. Romi Garduce's Climb for a Cause hopes to raise funds for the underprivileged and the environment through mountaineering.

TNF has joined the seasoned climber in this program since 2004, when he scaled Mount Elbrus in Russia, the highest mountain in Europe. GMA Kapuso Foundation and Cartwheel Foundation are Garduce's beneficiaries for his challenging feats.

Working in areas where children are under constant threat of malnutrition, disease, neglect and violent social unrest, the Cartwheel Foundation aims to provide education to indigenous children and communities with no access to basic services.

Like Cartwheel, one of the main programs of GMA Kapuso Foundation is to give poor children the opportunity to go to school. The foundation was Garduce and TNF's chosen beneficiary when he reached the summit of Mt. Everest May of last year.

The Tandikan Expedition and Calayan Rail Expedition, on the other hand, hope to establish long-term programs for the conservation of endangered species in Palawan and the Babuyan Islands, respectively. Named after the Palawan Peacock-Pheasant or Tandikan, the Tandikan Expedition aims to address the pressures facing Palawan's forests through a conservation research project.

The expedition will concentrate on highly threatened endemic species, particularly the Tandikan and the Palawan Hornbill, through biodiversity and habitat monitoring, applied research, conservation advocacy and management planning. ISLA Biodiversity Conservation Inc. (ISLA), TNF's partner for the Calayan Rail Expedition was established by the same group that discovered the flightless bird, Calayan Rail, in the Babuyan Islands in 2004.

ISLA has already undertaken several actions to safeguard wildlife and other natural habitats of Calayan Islands including surveys, trainings and workshops, community consultations, environmental awareness raising and advocacy work. With this project, ISLA hopes to further conservation and research activities in the Babuyan Islands.

The upcoming Bike 4 A Tribe Expedition will send TNF athletes Andrew Chinalpan and Jens Funk on a challenge to traverse the widest part of Luzon in the hopes to increase awareness and raise funds to protect the last of the remaining growth forests in the country and their indigenous people, the Dumagats.

For this event TNF has partnered with Bike4U Foundation, an organization that endeavors to provide bikes for underprivileged Filipinos children. "Our slogan for the foundation is 'A bike should be a right and not a privilege,'" according to Funk, who is the president of Bike4U. In September 2006, TNF supported the foundation on a charity tour through Karakoram Highway from Gilgit, Pakistan to Kashgar, China.

TNF provided the equipment and apparel such as tents, jackets, shoes and clothes. The first one of its kind in the country, Bike 4 A Tribe will kick off in Ilocos Sur and and conclude in Isabela, passing through several challenging terrains, including four provinces and the two biggest mountain ranges in the country, the Grand Cordillera and the Sierra Madre.

Through the Share the Passion campaign, the foundation also plans to procure computers for local high schools in Palanan, Isabela, which is the finish line of the said expedition.

The TNF Share the Passion Shirts are available in all TNF free standing stores located at Glorietta 4, Mall of Asia, Shangri-la Mall, Powerplant Mall and SM Davao. TNF has been a leader in high-performance expedition apparel and equipment for decades. Since 2004, TNF has worked closely with several local charities to continue its existing philosophy of corporate social responsibility. (Ian Garcia)