L.L. Bean Raises Dough for National Parks as it Celebrates with its Bootmobile


L.L. Bean鈥檚 Bootmobile, in honor of the store鈥檚 100th anniversary, outside it鈥檚 Freeport, Maine store.

Anyone who has traversed the cobbled roads of outlet-central Freeport, Maine, has undoubtedly witnessed the gargantuan boot perched out front of L.L. Bean鈥檚 flagship locale. To celebrate the company鈥檚 100th anniversary this year, the gear makers decided to honor not only the boot but the notion of keeping outdoor lovers outside and preserving natural spaces for future generations.

Through a new campaign called 鈥攁nd a pretty awesome Bootmobile (above)鈥擝ean has pledged to donate a buck to the for each story us nature lovers post. 鈥淭his year, share your outdoor moments with us,鈥 . 鈥淧ost a family photo, tweet from a mountaintop, or simply 鈥榣ike鈥 us on Facebook. No experience is too small to be counted.鈥

The concept is pretty cool, mainly for its simplicity. You tell Bean about your outdoor adventures, the company donates a dollar to a cause you likely care about. To sweeten the deal, each day of 2012, L.L. Bean is also giving away gear to one lucky person who has posted a story: 鈥淚f your entry is selected, our experts will then create a custom prize package based on your requests. One winner per day will receive a gear package worth up to $500, 366 winners total.鈥 (Here are the , if you鈥檙e interested.)

To get the word out, Bean is driving its Bootmobile鈥攚hich would apparently fit a giant almost 150 feet tall鈥攁cross the country to give away gear and host events. (Here鈥檚 a showing how the vehicle was actually made.) 鈥淭he idea here is not to put a boot on a truck,鈥 says Zachary Weikart of Echo Artz, which created the auto. 鈥淚t鈥檚 putting a truck inside of a boot鈥he truck is really the vehicle鈥攏o play on words鈥攖o get us there.鈥

Bean says it will donate up to $1 million to the National Park Foundation. With any luck, your stories of fabulous outdoor adventures of the past will help ensure many more for generations to come.