Columbia Sportswear Closes Stores During George Floyd’s Memorial Services

04 Jun Columbia Sportswear Closes Stores During George Floyd’s Memorial Services

Posted at 10:36h in FDRA, Home, Latest News by
Columbia Sportswear in an internal memo said it will be closing all its stores for two hours during George Floyd’s memorial service, make donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Marshall Project, and double-match contributions by employees to non-profits addressing racism.
The full memo follows:
…
To: All North America Employees


The murder of George Floyd was a tragedy, underpinned by the corrosive effects of institutional racism. That’s why tomorrow, June 4, 2020, we will close all of our North American stores for two hours during his memorial services. We stand against racism in all its forms, but in this moment, we want to be clear that we are proud to say black lives matter. George Floyd’s life mattered.

We are taking additional concrete actions to fight racism. It has taken a few days to research what we will do and how we will do it. We don’t have all of the answers, and listening is more important than talking, but here are some steps we will take.
  1. We plan to make donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Marshall Project to advance our country’s understanding of racism and its root causes and to promote equal justice and opportunity.
  2. We plan to follow the lead of our employees. When employees choose to make donations to 501[c]3 non-profits focused on addressing racism, we are offering to double match the contributions up to $1,000.
  3. We will help individuals and communities exercise the critical right to vote, along with others in our industry.
  4. We will continue to speak out and be a company that celebrates and encourages diversity.


We are working to help end racial injustice. This includes the facilitation of education about racism within our own company, with ongoing events and dialogue.

We know that our employees want to do what they can to combat racism. Below is a list of organizations that are working on racial and social justice. We will double match your donations to these organizations for gifts up to $1,000. That means that if you donate $100 we will contribute up to $200 to make the total $300.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but rather a beginning. Please suggest other organizations as you see fit. 

For now, we will continue to listen and educate ourselves further. If you have any comments, criticism or resources you want to share with us, please let us know.

Possible organizations to support:

  1. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund – Legal organization fighting for racial justice
  2. The Marshall Project – Nonprofit journalism about criminal justice
  3. ACLU Foundation – Public interest law firm defending civil rights
  4. Southern Poverty Law Center – Racial justice advocacy and hate group monitoring
  5. National Urban League – Civil rights organization
  6. Campaign Zero– Eliminating police brutality
  7. Black Lives Matter– Racial justice
  8. Color of Change: –Racial justice
  9. Equal Justice Initiative – Justice reform and advocacy
  10. Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) – Educating white folks to be better allies