Charitable Partners

Each year we select a different nonprofit organization to receive 100% of the funds raised from the Redwood Ramble. Over the years, our charitable partners have been:

Immigrant Legal Defense (2026)

The Redwood Ramble has selected Immigrant Legal Defense (ILD) as its 2026 Charitable Partner.

ILD provides direct immigration legal services representation before the California superior courts, immigration courts and agencies, federal district courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. They handle all forms of immigration relief — from DACA to complex detained removal defense — and also pursue impact litigation, advocacy, education, and outreach. While they serve clients across California, they focus particularly on underserved areas in remote Northern California, the Central Valley, and the Central Coast. Their remote service capacity allows them to reach the most isolated communities that have historically lacked access to counsel. In addition, ILD pursues systemic change, forming partnerships to expand legal services to people and places long ignored, including rural communities and individuals in detention, and integrating key social services through a strong network of community partners.

Current projects include educational-legal partnerships spanning transitional kindergarten through higher education. ILD partners with 9 CSU campuses providing free, on-campus legal services to students, staff, and faculty at nine Bay Area, Central Valley, and Central Coast campuses. They also serve 34 California Community College campuses in urban, suburban, and rural communities statewide.

Beyond their formal school and university partnerships, ILD attorneys bring longstanding relationships with nonprofit agencies, public defenders’ offices, and local, statewide, and national partners. They leverage trained volunteers for transportation, family reunification support, and appointment coordination, and collaborate with a network of volunteer mental health providers, housing facilities, and social services organizations to ensure holistic support throughout each client’s case.

To learn more about ILD and its mission go to https://www.ild.org/.

Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (2025)
Ramble On Productions has selected the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP) as our charitable partner for 2025. FFRP is a career training nonprofit that equips people coming home from prison and others from marginalized communities for careers protecting the environment and serving the community as wildland firefighters. The climate crisis, criminal justice reform, and economic mobility are complicated issues to tackle, and FFRP is working at the intersection of all of these by helping to grow a forestry and fire workforce that is assisting communities across the state and beyond in being more fire resilient.

Lack of employment opportunities is one of the leading causes of recidivism. FFRP co-founders Brandon Smith and Royal Ramey were some of the successful few to make the challenging transition from working on crews in the state’s Conservation “Fire” Camps to professional careers in the US Forest Service and CAL FIRE, but it took them both 11+ months after being released from prison to secure those positions. So in 2018, they launched FFRP to create a pathway for others who shared their lived experiences. Since then they have placed nearly 300 individuals into various firefighting and forestry roles throughout the state.

Since 2020, California has recorded some of its worst wildfire seasons on record. Due to the effects of climate change, wildfires in the Western United States are expected to worsen in their severity and frequency in the years to come. More wildland firefighters and forestry personnel are needed to better prevent wildfires and suppress them when they start. FFRP is ready to help fill those roles with dedicated individuals looking to start a new chapter in their lives.

We encourage you to view a recent Interview with co-founder Royal Ramey discussing how FFRP has been assisting with the Los Angeles fires.

Tides Foundation Healthy Democracy Fund (2024)
Our charitable recipient for 2024 was The Healthy Democracy Fund, which is a grantmaking initiative of the Tides Foundation.

Healthy Democracy Fund is committed to building a more inclusive democracy by shifting power to leaders and communities that have been historically excluded from participating in our nation’s future. The Healthy Democracy Fund works to fight voter suppression, increase voter turnout, and foster political engagement to create a healthy and inclusive democracy.

The Fund supports local groups working in underrepresented communities that are employing innovative and sustainable solutions to increase voter registration and engagement; counter disinformation campaigns; protect voter security; assure fair redistricting; and address emerging threats to our democratic systems.

To learn more about the Fund and the organizations it supports, visit the Healthy Democracy Fund

Marin CASA (2023)
Our charitable recipient for 2023 was Marin CASA. Marin CASA’s goal is to see every child live in a safe, permanent, and supportive home.

To reach that goal, the Marin CASA program recruits, screens, trains, and supervises volunteers who play a critical role in providing a voice for children in the courtroom. Their highly trained, court-appointed volunteers are responsible for making recommendations to the court for the safety, permanence, and well-being of every child assigned a CASA.

Marin CASA volunteers remain with their child from the beginning to the end of the case and advocate for their child’s fundamental needs including medical care, mental health care, educational and cultural support, and permanent placements. They review records, research information, and talk to everyone involved in their CASA child’s life. CASAs have contact with social workers, attorneys, parents, teachers, family members, foster parents, health professional and, of course, the children themselves. They establish a relationship with their child, getting to know his or her unique history while providing consistency and stability during an extremely difficult time in that child’s life.

Northern California Innocence Project (2022)

 

Northern California Innocence Project‘s mission is to promote a fair, effective and compassionate criminal justice system, and to protect the rights of the innocent. NCIP envisions a criminal justice system that makes us safer, while being cost-effective, fair, and equitable.

NCIP was started in 2001 by Kathleen “Cookie” Ridolfi and Linda Starr at a moment when new legislation was adopted in California that permits convicted inmates to seek DNA testing to prove their innocence. Both Ridolfi and Starr worked as trial and appellate attorneys in the criminal justice system and sought opportunities to rectify errors in the system that wrongfully incarcerated the innocent. Originally working with volunteer staff and law students at Santa Clara University School of Law, NCIP’s first exoneration was in 2002.

Today, NCIP has 10 full-time staff members. NCIP partners with dozens of volunteer attorneys and investigators from more than 20 firms, along with law students and other community advocates.

As a non-profit program of Santa Clara University School of Law, NCIP is focused on educating students, exonerating the innocent, and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions. Since January 2001, NCIP has processed thousands of requests for inmate assistance, investigated hundreds of cases, pursued litigation or collaborative resolution in dozens, and obtained the freedom of 30 wrongfully convicted inmates.

GRIP Training Institute (2019)

Guiding Rage into Power (GRIP) is “a year-long transformative program that provides the tools that enable prisoners to turn the stigma of being a violent offender into a badge of being a non-violent Peacekeeper. Not only have the men transformed their own behavior, they have become agents of change – people with skills to defuse conflicts around them.”

The GRIP Program has been developed over 20 years of direct work with thousands of prisoners. It offers an in-depth journey where participants explore the origins of their violence, build skills to track and manage impulses, develop emotional intelligence, cultivate mindfulness, and understand victim impact. The program currently runs in 7 different state prisons (including San Quentin) and serves 550 prisoners with 110 instructional hours each to provide a deeply transformational journey. Over a 6 year period, more than 177 GRIP graduates have been released and 0% (not a typo) have returned to prison. That compares to the 65% recidivism rate for the general prisoner population in California.

Please take time to watch their introductory video below to hear directly from the inmates about the impact of the program on their lives and visit their website for more information.

Bread and Roses (2018)
Bread & Roses Presents is a nonprofit arts organization with a human services mission that brings hope, healing, and joy through live music and the performing arts to people who are disadvantaged, marginalized, or otherwise isolated in diverse institutional settings in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bread & Roses presents free, live music and entertainment for Bay Area children, teens, adults, and elders who don’t have the ability to easily experience the uplifting power of the arts in any other way. Their performances, well over 600 last year alone, bring joy to children undergoing chemotherapy, teens battling substance abuse, families in homeless shelters, veterans recovering from trauma, seniors in hospice, and others facing challenging times.

To learn more about Bread & Roses, to check out their introductory video below and to visit their website.

Project Avary (2017)
Project Avary offers long-term support, resources, guidance, and training for children with incarcerated parents. Through it important work, Project Avary is changing the lives and outlooks of these young individuals and, in doing so, helping to curb the generational cycle of incarceration which is so prevalent.  Please take a moment to review their introductory video below.

The LymeLight Foundation (2016)
The LymeLight Foundation’s mission is to, “help young people struggling with Lyme disease access and pay for proper medical treatment, and to prevent the long-term effects of Lyme disease through public awareness and education.” Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in the world, yet many people (including doctors) are unaware of how to identify infections, so cases can go untreated for prolonged periods – years, decades, and even lifetimes. The longer the infection goes untreated, the harder it can be to address. To make matters worse, treatment of chronic Lyme disease is not typically covered by insurance because of the lack of consensus among the medical community, insurance companies, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The LymeLight Foundation offers Lyme education and awards grants of up to $10,000 to children and young adults (up to 25 years of age) who cannot afford treatment so that they can receive the care they so desperately need. Best of all, because all of the LymeLight Foundation’s operating and program costs through 2020 are being covered by generous donors, 100% of the funds raised by the Redwood Ramble will go directly toward treatment grants.

Knowledge is key to the early identification and treatment of this devastating disease, which is called the “great imitator” because it mimics so many other diseases through its wide range of symptoms. We urge you to be part of the solution by reading more about Lyme disease and the LymeLight Foundation. We also encourage you to watch a very informative Channel 7 News Report documenting the impact that Lyme has had on well known author Amy Tan and other victims of the disease.

Exploring New Horizons Outdoor School (2015)
Because of their important work in connecting children to the natural environment and, in doing so, helping to foster our next generation of environmental stewards, Ramble on Productions selected Exploring New Horizons Outdoor School as the recipient of all proceeds from the 2015 Redwood Ramble. The Ramble’s contribution will be used to fund scholarships for children from underserved communities who would not otherwise be able to take part in these programs. While at the Ramble, you have an opportunity to meet the dedicated people involved with Exploring New Horizons and see them in action as they bring an environmental education component to our Kid’s Program. We also encourage you to visit Exploring New Horizon’s website and consider making a direct donation to support their work.

Save the Redwood League (2014)
Because of their extraordinary work protecting our state’s redwood groves for nearly 100 years, Ramble On Productions has selected Save the Redwoods League as the recipient of all proceeds above operating costs from the 2014 Redwood Ramble. Since 1918, Save the Redwood League has protected and restored redwood forests and connected people with their peace and beauty so these wonders of the natural world flourish. Donations to the League help purchase redwood land, restore logged forests, study how to best protect them, and teach children and adults about these magical expressions of life. We also encourage you to consider donating directly to the League to support its ongoing work.