The Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company has announced a $2 million grant to the BeltLine Partnership, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for one of the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment initiatives underway in the United States.

The grant will support pedestrian trails for walking, running, cycling, and other outdoor activities in the West End section of Atlanta. The BeltLine is a $240 million project designed to connect Atlanta communities via green space, trails, transportation options, and new development along twenty-two miles of historic rail segments that encircle the city's urban core.

In addition to the grant, the company will loan executive Ben Jordan to the Sustainable Atlanta Initiative. Jordan holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied environmental engineering and researched corporate environmental management, and is pursuing a doctorate in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

"We know that to have a sustainable business, the communities where we operate must be sustainable themselves," said Coca-Cola Company chairman and CEO Neville Isdell. "This donation supports a network of recreational trails that will connect scores of neighborhoods and communities around the Atlanta University Center to the city's urban core. This is another way for us to give back to our hometown, which has supported us so well over the years."