A heartfelt thanks to everyone who reached out with contacts. After following up on several great leads, some important pieces are (finally!) falling into place. A potential 501(c)(3) sponsor has been identified with a partnership proposal now in the works, and plans are afoot for a bank revetment project in the spring. The hope is that this Hail-Mary will buy us a little more time to move the roadhouse away from the river – a much larger and more complicated endeavor. Alaska-Based Folks: Stay tuned for practical ways you can help with this initial effort.
In the mean time, we organized one last fall trip downriver to move the handler cabin out of immediate danger, after the sudden bank collapse in early September. The little cabin is now set up in its new location, re-leveled and ready to serve as cozy, private lodging for roadhouse visitors this winter. Even though water levels had dropped significantly, five additional feet dropped into the river while we were there. There is no way to predict what the river will do in the spring. We are hoping for a mild break-up and low-water summer next season, but preparing to deal with whatever she throws our way.
Many people have reached out asking for information about donating. We are holding off on creating a crowd-funding platform until a 501(c)(3) sponsorship has been set up. This will put us on the road to applying for grant funding and accepting business donations, and set us up for a transparent fiscal process for contributions going forward. It will also keep administrative fees and tax consequences to a minimum – allowing more donations to go directly towards the roadhouse. We are hopeful that things will be in place by the new year. Thank you for your patience with this process.
The concrete progress facilitated by this community’s response last month has been encouraging, to say the least. Please continue to spread the word, share social media posts and encourage folks to sign up for the newsletter (and stories!) In the mean time, let’s all pitch in with the snow-dances and get the winter season underway!