by Taylor Kinzler
WABI-TV news story
The Bangor YMCA is forging a strong bond with the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
The Y has received a $25,000 Active Trails Grant in partnership with the monument.
The goal is to fund the Katahdin Region Active Trails Program, which will let the community experience Maine’s new National Monument.
Trips to the trail through this program will be offered at no cost to members and at little cost to the public, gear and transportation, too.
“We’re going to be offering youth and family specific trips up to the National Monument to do canoeing, hiking, camping, snowshoeing,” said John Quinn, Program Manager at the Bangor YMCA. “This is kind of another area of the North Maine Woods that the kids out here are not going to be able to experience unless they have opportunities like this.”
“It gets them outside, different types of activities, both physical,” said Greg Zielinsky, Grant Development Manager and Senior Program Development Manager at the Bangor YMCA. “And then we will have some programs later in the year that have a special component to it as well.”
The Katahdin Region Active Trails Program is one of 21 National Park Programs selected to receive a 2017 grant from the National Park Foundation.