NOTN- Trail Mix, the nonprofit held its annual dinner and auction Nov. 22.
The fundraiser raised over $67,000 to aid in maintaining more than 250 miles of trails in the Juneau area.
The event, featured menu options from Breeze-In and a live auction hosted by Taylor Vidic, who also performed during the event.
“We wrapped up another really incredible season on October 2. We employed over 23 people throughout the season to work on Juneau’s trails. We created an entirely new trail this summer, the Jumbo Reroute. So now you can head up Jumbo Mountain, all starting from Sandy Beach Park.” Said Meghan Tabacek, executive director of Trail Mix in an interview last month, “We were all over the place this summer. There was a lot of stuff to do on the trails, and we had a wonderful season with our crew, and also around 3000 volunteer hours. So really, really great community effort to keep our trails in shape.”
Trail Mix finished other major projects including repairs and upgrades near the Eagle Valley Center in preparation for a cabin installation next summer, and work on popular routes such as Amalga and Montana Creek.
As winter approaches, Trail Mix staff have been racing to finish trail assessments and preparations for next year’s season. While the bulk of their workforce is seasonal, two trail coordinators operate year-round, handling repairs and planning.
This year’s auction focused on expanding tools and equipment for the nonprofit’s volunteer program.
“Our big pitch this year at our auction is that our volunteer program has grown so much. We did 3000 volunteer hours, so we are fundraising to purchase a trailer and a set of tools that goes specifically out to our volunteer program.” Tabacek said.
Trail Mix’s work and volunteer sign-ups can be found at trailmixinc.org.
