Through a spirit of giving, Ganahl Lumber in Los Alamitos helped The Youth Center by hosting the award-winning nonprofit’s annual tree lot, raising $ 1 million over the years to benefit kids in the local community, according to the Youth Center’s Executive Director Lina Lumme.
“Families have made this a holiday tradition, with generation after generation buying trees from us,” said Lumme. “Over the years, Ganahl Lumber has stepped up and directly helped our community.”
Through a spirit of giving, Ganahl Lumber in Los Alamitos helped The Youth Center by hosting the award-winning nonprofit’s annual tree lot, raising $ 1 million over the years to benefit kids in the local community, according to the Youth Center’s Executive Director Lina Lumme.
“Families have made this a holiday tradition, with generation after generation buying trees from us,” said Lumme. “Over the years, Ganahl Lumber has stepped up and directly helped our community.”
By her estimates, Lumme calculates that 1,500 families in need got holiday trees, with the help of 9,000 volunteers contributing 108,000 hours community service over the last 18 years that the Christmas tree lot has existed.
As part of the Ganahl Lumber family for almost 20 years and general manager of the Los Alamitos location for the last two years, Chad Kidder says the company has always felt it’s important to be a part of the community, and that giving back is a part of the company’s culture.
“We’re very proud to have helped out the Youth Center, and we’re proud to be a part of their major fundraising event,” Kidder said.
The lumber and hardware company has been in Los Alamitos for 18 years. Founded in 1884 by Austrian immigrant Christian Ganahl and his brother Frank, it is the oldest lumberyard in all of California. The company boomed in Los Angeles when people were moving west on the Transcontinental Railroad.
Several branches opened and flourished during the Depression due to the Hollywood movie industry. After World War II, the Ganahl family continued their great-grandfather’s “branch theory” and acquired other locations throughout the Orange County.
Today their lumber and hardware stores can be found in Anaheim, Buena Park, Capistrano Beach, Corona, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, and Pasadena, according to the company’s website.
Ganahl Lumber in Los Alamitos is located at 10742 Los Alamitos Blvd. For more information about the company, please visit their website at Ganahl Lumber.com.
For more information on The Youth Center and programs offered, please visit their website at theyouthcenter.org.
