Last Week, This Week

Four items to report:

1.  As I hope you have heard by now, we made the $20,000 matching gift that was available in July and August: it was made by gifts large and small, which may be the best part of it in addition to our not losing any of that gift.  These donations included contributions or purchases (quilts, bookmarks, knit goods) from a few dollars to $300 at the library or the Saturday Markets or the Arts and Music Festival, contributions from sponsored events ranging from $30 to $300-$400, individual gifts of from $100-$5,000: big and little, they all got together to add up to $20,000.  Which makes the current (unofficial) total (as of Sept 1) $55,000.  That is about 11% of the journey we have to make and we are glad to be making this trip together.  I think we can look forward to $100,000 within our first year of fundraising, but it's going to take a lot of continuous work.  We know you'll be with us as we keep on keeping on.

2.  September is "Great Change Month," in which we urge everyone to take their jars, bags, piggy banks, whatever full of loose change to Sterling Bank where they will separate U.S. from Canadian coinage, count it, roll it, and permit you to donate it to the Library Building Fund.  There are subsidiary change jars here and there throughout the Point if you're not at Sterling when they're open: the Library, TSB shipping, Neilsen's, the Chandlery at the marina, Larry's Liquor Locker, Blue Heron, and Auntie Pam's Store.  When I stopped into Sterling on Monday, they said they had received many pounds of coins already, but didn't have any totals yet.  Keep them coming.  And, if you think about it, when you are at the bank, thank Jane, Heather, Julia, and Sandy for doing all this counting for the new library for us all.  My neighbor Canadians, returning home after the lovely (if short) summer, dropped off three jars for this on their way out: one filled with Canadian pennies, one filled with U.S. pennies, and one filled with mixed silver coins.  It's amazing how heavy coins become when you put them all together in a jar of some size!  And how generous people are when you put them all together in a community of even a little size!

3.  We have received a NEW Matching Gift with different terms from the last one.  Five individuals have each offered $1,000 if ten individuals/couples/families will give $500 each.  Within the first 24 hours, we received three such $500 gifts to the match:  Len Hamm, Annette Hamm, and a third couple who chose to remain anonymous.  Seven more and you will have done it.  Fortunately, we have another 6 weeks to gather in these matching gifts, but if they all come home to the new library fund, we'll then be at $66,000.  It builds fast when everyone gives what they can and sometimes even stretches a bit, as we realize some are surely doing.  If you would like to be one of these seven remaining $500 matchers, contact us at foprl1@gmail.com.  (that's fop plus r plus the letter l plus the numeral 1.)  Or get a donation card at the library and note that you want to be a matcher on it.

4.  Many people have mentioned to those of us on the fundraising committee that it would be nice if there was some way of making regular donations of smaller amounts to the project.  It won't be like receiving a bill from us each month, but if you keep track of the months as they go by, you can give to the library via the donation button here on the blog.  You can donate this way via credit card or Paypal and the donation goes directly to the Whatcom County Library Foundation, the organization that looks after the donation funds once they are received.  If you have any problem with the donation button, contact Ed Park (who made it happen) at ed_park@outlook.com.

Enjoy the beginning-of-fall days with these wonderful blue skies, and think of the new library in our future!

--Judy Ross, for Friends of the Point Roberts Library