Thanks in part to funding received from L.L. Bean, the Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) this year provided outdoor ethics education, distributed 100 informational packets to school-aged and college hiking groups and constructed two accessible, moldering privies at remote campsites.
L.L. Bean awarded MATC two grants this year. The first grant for $10,500 supported MATC’s Caretaker and Ridgerunner Education Program, enabling three staff located in remote campsites to teach Leave No Trace outdoor ethics to approximately 10,000 trail users from May to October.
A second L.L. Bean grant for $3,890 was awarded by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy through the L.L. Bean Grants to Clubs Program and applied to the following projects:
- The construction of two accessible, moldering privies at Wadleigh Stream campsite in the 100-Mile Wilderness and at the Kennebec River Crossing near Caratunk.
- The cost of air travel to bring supplies and tools to trail crews working in the remote Rainbow Lake area.
- The purchase of 36 nylon lifting slings used in MATC’s griphoist system, which enables crews to move large boulders and rock to work sites.
“L.L. Bean’s continued support of MATC’s mission and the Appalachian Trail expands our ability to connect with a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts while providing increased accessibility for the hiking public,” said MATC President Lester Kenway. “As a nonprofit, we accomplish more priorities as a result of funding we receive from valued partners like L.L. Bean.”