Gravel for good

Gravel For Good is our way of giving back to local communities. Each organization will receive $500 from Heck of the North Productions.

New for 2024 is our partnership with the National Indian Carbon Coalition. We are proud to offer a way for our cyclists to help offset their carbon emissions while traveling to our events.

Here is a description of the project our donations are helping to fund:

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Minnesota) approved a forest-based carbon sequestration project in July of 2020. The project, which is being developed as part of the Tribal Land Conservation Initiative, will be implemented under the American Carbon Registry’s Improved Forest Management Methodology, which quantifies greenhouse gas emission reductions that exceed current forest management practices. The project covers 9,197 acres of tribal forest land that will sequester more than 77 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) per acre. The land will be dedicated to carbon sequestration for 40 years during which time the Tribe is expected to earn approximately $4 million.

We are proud to donate to the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO.) In their words: “We started with nothing. Today, we offer an American Indian Community Center, 44 units of permanent supportive housing, a domestic violence emergency shelter, legal advocacy, a climate and cultural resiliency initiative, social enterprise activities, youth programming and an arts and culture initiative. All of our work is anchored in our mission to honor the resiliency of Indigenous people by strengthening communities and centering Indigenous values in all aspects of our work. Our philosophy is that every American Indian person deserves to live in non-violent and non-threatening environment and has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.”

We feel honored to be partnering with New Horizons Foundation and the transformative work being carried out by Dana and Brandi Bates and our local friend, Dave Nonnemacher of Duluth! This year, we are donating toward The Ray of Life solar light project.

We are proud to sponsor the Northwoods Cycling Team in Two Harbors and Lake County. This team will promote local racing, training and cycling education options for all levels of cyclists.

We will also be donating to the Superior Cycling Association in Grand Marais and Cook county. This organization works to build trail and promote cycling in this beautiful part of the world.

Duluth, Grand Marais, Ely and Two Harbors are fortunate to have strong and growing cycling communities. But more could always be done. We hope to contribute toward making cycling more accessible to all ages and incomes in our region. Thanks for helping out.

-Jeremy Kershaw (founder)