On April 18, 2012, Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts published the following announcement for the 2012 Capital Campaign in The Remarks to the Saint Mark family.
Please check this page regularly as information, updates, online pledge capability, and pictures will be added as available.
It’s Capital Campaign Time!
You knew it was coming and here it is! This Sunday, April 22 we will kick off our new Capital Campaign. Our goal is $1,500,000 - $750,000 in cash and $750,000 in three year pledges. There are only two things we want to do with this money:
- Tear down 117 5th (the burned building behind us, formerly the Midtown Wellness Center): We will need $50,000 for the demolition of this building and grading the land. The permitting process is underway and we hope to get that approved in the next few months. You can see artist’s renderings of this and future phases for the back lot on a presentation board in the narthex the next time you are in church!
- Reduce our indebtedness: Right now we have a debt of $2,200,000, made up of the remaining balance on the loan used to purchase the buildings along Juniper, and the loan used to purchase 117 5th Street.
“The economy is still pretty awful. Why are we having a campaign now?” you might ask. Well, the simple answer is, we are about to use up the money from the last capital campaign which we currently use to make the loan payments on our debt. We run out of that money in July. That’s why we need to refinance and begin paying a new mortgage at the end of June.
This campaign will also be different from former campaigns in some major ways:
- We will not be using a campaign fundraising company. We are doing this ourselves.
- We don’t have a campaign committee chairperson. We are all in this together.
- We plan to have FUN while raising money!
- And this is the most different part: We want to raise $750,000 cash up front.
Why? Because if you give us $100 up front it is worth more to us in saved interest over the life of the loan than if you gave us $33.33 a year each of three years. We get more bang for the buck from money given up front. So anyone who can give us even their whole pledge amount in one lump sum is encouraged to do so!
So that’s the Campaign in a nutshell! If you have a great idea for a campaign name, let us know. You may see your slogan or campaign name on a t-shirt! Let’s start thinking and praying and by July we will be in a new and improved financial situation and well on our way to the reshaping of our back lot!
Thanks for all you do!
Beth
