Two weekends ago, someone stole a hefty amount of wood from Trail Mix, Inc., a nonprofit that maintains hiking trails around Juneau.<\/p>\n
Even though the lumber has not been returned, the organization could get back on track soon thanks to a donation from a local business: Amalga Distillery. The distillery wrote a check to Trail Mix to replace the lumber — about $1,200, Amalga co-owner Brandon Howard said in an interview Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Howard said he was upset when he saw the news that the lumber had been stolen<\/a>.<\/p>\n “It was something that was taken from Trail Mix, yes, but it was really something that was taken from the community,” Howard said.<\/p>\n The distillery opened in the summer of 2017, and Howard said he and co-owner Maura Selenak have been overwhelmed<\/a> at the way the community has supported them<\/a>. This, he said, is one way for them to give back to the people who have given so much to them.<\/p>\n Doug Scudder, the president of the Trail Mix board, said Tuesday that the organization is extremely grateful. The lumber that was stolen, Scudder explained in an earlier letter to the Empire, was going to be used to help build bridges on the Treadwell Ditch Trail on Douglas Island.<\/p>\n Scudder predicted in his letter that the theft would likely delay this construction to next summer. He explained in an interview Tuesday that the specific wood that was stolen will be used later in the construction project, but they didn’t want to start building the bridges and then leave them half-constructed through the winter.<\/p>\n With these funds coming so quickly, Scudder said, those in the organization are optimistic about completing construction of the bridges this summer.<\/p>\n “We’re hopeful that we can stay on schedule,” Scudder said.<\/p>\n