He hadn’t said a word all evening, the small, frail man in threadbare jeans and a faded fishing shirt two sizes too large. Slumped-shouldered and sunken-eyed, he’d arrived alone and had settled into the sparest chair in the lodge’s common room, the one near the window, and extended a thousand-mile stare out onto the plain, across the river, over the foothills that rose to our west. To where the sun would soon set.

On Black Friday, Patagonia kicked off its Action Works fundraising effort for 2019, dedicated to raising money for grassroots environmental organizations. Patagonia's pitch to those who would potentially support these organizations was simple: donate to support these environmental non-profits and we'll match every single dollar, up to $10 million. A mere 17 days later, Patagonia had hit that ceiling, effectively putting $20 million dollars in the hands of grassroots organizations that typically struggle with limited staff and budgets.