A Message From Burgeon Founder, Rudy Glocker

Lincoln, NH the heart of the White Mountains:

It's a different world

These are challenging times for all of us. Some have lost loved ones, some have lost their jobs. Many are isolated from our families — especially those with elderly relatives.  Others are on the front lines trying to help in various ways: medical workers, checkout people at supermarkets, and other essential roles.

We know that while all of us have challenges, everybody’s situation is unique. We all have different hopes, dreams, fears and realities. We can only imagine the difficulties you face. We wish you all the luck and good fortune in navigating this new reality.

Burgeon takes a stand

Just over a month ago, Burgeon converted its production from outdoor apparel to making masks. As soon as we let people know what we were doing, we began to receive requests. Friends, customers, nonprofits and other small businesses wanted to buy masks from us. It quickly became apparent that our business would be stronger than ever. We had more interest than we could possibly handle. People were willing to pay as much as $50 for a mask. 

So what did we do? We started giving the masks away for free. No charge whatsoever, not even for postage.

We started off giving them to local healthcare providers such as Ammonoosuc Community Health Services, who needed them for presenting patients. The Massachusetts Association of the Blind was next. Then we heard from Taravista, a provider of mental health services in Massachusetts who did not have masks for their staff. A customer told us about Cathedral Towers, a nursing home in Atlanta that had zero masks. We sent masks to them as well.

Locally, we have donated masks to:

We started hearing from individuals and families in need. People needed masks to go grocery shopping, make food deliveries for elderly relatives or neighbors, and to go to the drug store.

So then what? We started making masks available to New Hampshire residents — once again, free of charge. No shipping, no handling, free. We started shipping them to Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts as well. Next — all of New England.

We will continue to supply these masks free of charge to those in need until they are no longer needed or until we can no longer sustain our business.

Our commitment moving forward

I founded Burgeon Outdoor because I believe that mountain communities are valuable resources not only to the people who live there, but also to the outdoor community and our nation as a whole. I wanted to create a company that not only produced great products made in these communities, but that improved their social fabric as well, making them stronger and richer places to live as well as visit.

While we are committed to making outstanding outdoor apparel here in Lincoln, we understand that right now what our community needs is masks. We are committed to providing them. The mountains that surround us here in New England are hundreds of millions of years old. They will be here for the rest of our lives. We are doing our part to make sure we are all able to enjoy them on the other side of this pandemic — and when you do, we hope you come by to pay us a visit.

Thank you to our customers for making this possible. Without you, we could not make these masks and donate them to organizations and individuals in need. Thank you for allowing us to make a profound difference to those in need at this critical time.

If you know of a New Hampshire healthcare company, community service nonprofit or other organization in need, please email us at info@burgeonoutdoor.com.

On behalf of everyone at Burgeon, we wish you, your family and friends safety and good health in the days ahead.

 ~ Rudy

Burgeon Outdoor was founded in 2019.  Burgeon’s mission is to help mountain communities flourish.  Burgeon proudly manufactures premium outdoor apparel in Lincoln, NH.  By manufacturing locally, Burgeon creates year round jobs in the White Mountains.  5% of Burgeon’s sales support its community and environment efforts. To learn more, please visit our studio at the Village Shops in Lincoln, our website burgeonoutdoor.com or call us at 603-745-7123.