Meet Benny Braden | Founder of Responsible Stewardship, Inc

We had the good fortune of connecting with Benny Braden and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Benny, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m from a little town in East Tennessee called Oliver Springs. When I was in my early 20s I moved 8 miles up the road to Harriman. That’s where I’ve been since.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Responsible Stewardship, Inc is an ALL VOLUNTEER operated, action based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is dedicated to restoring our public lands and waterways after experiencing a negative human impact. We accomplish this by organizing volunteer group cleanups of illegal dumping sites that are reported to us and removing the trash build up along our shorelines of our waterways. Simply put “we are making our outdoor spaces a better place to recreate and our communities a better place to live.” We also take advantage of our educational platform to help educate the proper stewardship of our outdoor spaces.

As an organization we are officially just over a year old. I founded RS after witnessing the mistreatment of our public lands in 2020. My life once depended of these lands. I was a first responder for many years. I was a volunteer firefighter/rescue diver/EMT for over 13 year. And at the end of my service I began struggling with PTS (Post Traumatic Stress). During that time I witnessed countless traumatic scenes and tragic situations.

Back in 2013 I began struggling with PTS. I immediately turned to the outdoors. As a child I spent many of summers at my grandparents farm and was always outdoors. Being in the outdoors allowed me to “clean off my desk”. I call it that cause it’s like I have all these images and traumatic events that have piled up in my memory that negatively affect my life. By praying and meditating about these individual events allows me to self debrief and I try to understand my role in that event and file it away properly in my memory. So beginning in 2015 I began hiking a lot. In 2016 I set the FKT (Fastest Known Time) for the Great Smoky Mountains 900-Miler twice in a single year. And in 2019 i began hiking in places around the wild like coast to coast across Scotland.

So when I witnessed the abuse of our public lands in 2020 I knew I needed to do something. So I took action and started cleaning up locations like Max Patch in North Carolina. Soon after I help the Founder of Save Our Smokies, Inc (another all volunteer operated nonprofit) organize and grow. And in 2021 I started a movement called Responsible Stewardship. In 2022 I knew we needed to be more so we became a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

I did this cause I knew there were other first responders like me and were gonna need these outdoor spaces like I did. So I wanted to make sure they were clean and inviting to everyone so they could be enjoyed responsibly. And at one time my life depended on these lands. I knew theirs would too.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Anytime I’ve had friends and guests over I typically will treat them to a few local restaurants that I enjoy and take them to a few of my favorite outdoor spaces that are near by. I try to make sure that the trip is relaxing and that we aren’t always on the go cause I know how important it is to just relax and spend time with your friends connecting.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our Team Leaders Jessica Lancaster and Mary Mars are absolutely rock stars. They are a huge asset to our all volunteer nonprofit organization. Their dedication and hard work really standout and helps us make the level of impact that we do.

Website: https://www.responsiblestewardship.org/

Instagram: @responsiblestewardship

Facebook: @responsiblestewardship

Other: @therealbennybraden on Instagram and Facebook.

Image Credits
Matt Morrison