We are pleased to report that St. John’s Capital Campaign’s total pledged amount has now risen to $281,424, which is 88% of our Campaign’s goal envisioned at the outset of $320,000. Earlier this year, the Committee decided to extend the timeframe for the Campaign, which was originally planned to be completed in 2022, by one year, through 2023. The reasons for the extension are the ones we are all familiar with that were catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yet, through all the disruptions due to the pandemic, the Capital Campaign has managed to continue raising funds and the Buildings & Grounds Committee has managed to move Capital projects forward. For example, the April 28, 2022, letter to raise additional funds for the Capital Campaign resulted, to date, in more than $16,700 of new pledges and gifts from parishioners. Also, in 2022 the Rheinstrom Hill Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to St. John’s in support of the accessible church entrance project, and in the previous year, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation made a $15,000 grant for the repair and renovation of the fencing of the Pomeroy Graveyard in St. John’s cemetery and stabilization work on the adjacent embankment.
The Capital Projects completed, or are nearly so, during the past couple of years include the accessible church entrance, renovation of the Sacristy, new energy-saving propane-fueled furnaces in the basements of the church and Rectory, a new underground propane fuel tank, upgrades to electrical and alarm systems, a new parking area near the Rectory, a new pavilion, and landscape grading and grass seeding to accommodate the parking area and pavilion.
While we have more money to raise in the Campaign with the goal to complete it in 2023, we are deeply grateful for the individuals and foundations that have already contributed to this effort in sustaining people, place, and peace at St. John in the Wilderness into the future. We are pleased to report that 100% of current Vestry members and 100% of Capital Campaign Committee members have pledged to the Capital Campaign at least once.
If you have not yet had the opportunity to contribute funds to the Campaign, or if you have contributed in the past and are now able to make another pledge, please feel free to contact us to discuss your prospective gift and/or to obtain a pledge form for 2022-2023. Gifts may be made in cash or in securities held by your bank or broker, and we can send you information on how to donate by securities.
We would also like to thank our fellow Capital Campaign Committee members for their passionate, steadfast dedication to our shared mission: Karen Flynn, Marjorie Hoog, Ginny Johnson, Dale Peterson, Louise Peterson, John Thompson, and Judy Whitbeck.
Brian Boom and Lucy Eldridge, Co-Chairs