Dear NSAA & SWAG:
The coats, vests, pants and other items donated by SWAG to the Talizman Foundation last winter were a Godsend to thousands of extremely needy people in rural Poland. In places where the winter temperatures routinely drop to below zero, the SWAG donations were distributed to thirty different charities throughout Poland.

Some of the people to whom SWAG coats were given did not have proper cold weather clothing before, and thanks to SWAG, people such as the 132 long-term ill adults at the Social Care House in Lapy are now able to go outside to breathe fresh air during the frigid Polish winters, and children in fifteen orphanages can walk to school and play outdoors without risking serious illness and frostbite. As the director of one charity wrote after the SWAG donation, “We thank God that people like you exist, and that you care about those who have nothing.”

Kimberly Reed
Talizman Foundation

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Dear NSAA & SWAG:
Mongolia, a central Asian country with climate and landscape eerily similar to Montana and the Rocky Mountain West, faces many challenges to it's greatest asset, the beauty and pristine nature of the land. Like our Rocky Mountain region, Mongolia has spectacular landscape and untouched wild places, mountains, rivers, deserts. Like the Rocky Mountain West a hundred years ago there is a gold and mineral rush on in Mongolia and once abundant wildlife has suffered greatly from poaching.

The Ministry of Nature and Environment (MNE) is charged with enforcing environmental laws, but often lacks the most basic tools. In a country where a Park Ranger is related to virtually every single person in his jurisdiction, it is difficult to enforce the rules. Underpaid and understaffed, MNE and national park employees lack motivation and resources to do a good job.

We heard about the National Ski Areas Association SWAG program and thought it would be a perfect partner for our projects in Mongolia. With good looking, high quality uniforms (especially those from Battle Mountain with the wolf – o.k.. maybe a husky, I don't know) embroidered on the back, the rangers of Khovsgol and Altai National Parks now look sharper, feel prouder and project a more professional image. (Wolves, by the way, are very good luck for Mongolians). We have delivered approximately 200 jackets that have outfitted park rangers, MNE inspectors and also donated some of the jackets to orphan kids attending a school for the handicapped in Ulan Bator.

In some cases, the rangers removed some of the name embroidery and in other cases, we assisted the rangers to have embroidered patches made with the park logo, of a size that could be stitched on over the existing logos.

Thanks, SWAG, and Bayarlaa! From all the recipients in Mongolia. We look forward to distributing more in the future.

Kent Madin
Boojum Expeditions