Are you watching the countdown timer? In 14 days, Iditarod 2019 will start. Today was another preparation day at Airland Transport, Anchorage. More volunteers, some repeat from the past few days, gathered to sort and pack up the food and supplies being sent out for volunteers at each checkpoint along the trail. Some folks have been here 3 days in a row volunteering.

Sylvia, who is going to be working at the Anvik checkpoint, came to help out. She was introduced to the Iditarod through a friend’s ceremonial start party at a hotel overlooking 4th Ave. As soon as she had time to start volunteering, she did and has been for about 7 years now.

Ronni has to go to work later today, but she dropped in to help out as long as she can. She does different volunteer positions around Anchorage; her first ones were working in the phone room at race headquarters. She has also done work for the P-team and start and re-start jobs. One of her favorite memories is when she got sent all the way to Nome to be an assistant checkpoint cook.

The Iditarod Trail Committee purchases the checkpoint supplies, mostly from Carrs and Costco, based on the number of people that will need them and how long they will be there. It is brought to Airland Transport where volunteers take inventory before stacking up the pallets for each checkpoint. Some build the boxes to hold the items, some take inventory, and some distribute the supplies. Partners take a checklist for a supply, say coffee. On each checkpoint pallet, they put the number of the supply indicated on the checklist. When it’s fulfilled, they turn it in and get a new checklist. It’s a great system.Thank you to today’s volunteers who made sure that trail volunteers have what they need.