Christmas Trees for Libraries

Neilson's Hardware and Lumber kindly chose to donate $5.00 for every Christmas tree they sold to the New Library Building Fund.  This week, they sold the last of their trees and sent the building fund a check for $415.00.  And that amount was matched by our $5,000 Christmas Matching Fund, donated by Bev and Andy Mar.

We are coming along with that match (we are currently at almost $4,000 since December 1st), and we have a couple more weeks.  This week and next, you can come to the library on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2-3 pm and Wednesdays from 12-1 and buy a beautiful LIbrary Building Fund holiday donation card.  You can give someone else the gift of a library and have both your and their name inscribed in our new Gift Donation Book.  And your gift will be eligible for an IRS charitable donation deduction and for the December match that will double its value.

Think about a year-end gift to the library: either with a gift card to someone else, or just from yourself to yourself and to all the community who will be able to enjoy a new library here in Point Roberts.  It is truly a gift that gives back to us all.  If we give, we will receive.  Happy December!

A Little More

I forgot to include three things in yesterday's post: first, the new fundraising totals: (unofficial total) $80,000.  There are also pledges for next year and though the official totals include only money that has been received, the unofficial totals are a little looser but even there I have not included the $35,000 in pledges that have been made for next year.

Second, a reminder that Neilson's Hardware is giving the library fund $5 for each Christmas tree that it sells.  (Thank you, Lorne and Kris; thank you, buyers; thank you, trees.)  And, finally, a few people have asked me whether we still have bookmarks ($10 donation), and the answer is Yes!  Talk to Rose at the library.  She has custody of them.  And not counted but still a thing: if you are on Facebook, go to our Facebook Page and 'like' it.  That's the faster update and also you could win a permanent nametag with a fine bird on it.

https://www.facebook.com/friendsofthepointrobertslibrary

A Very Full Two Weeks

Pam Sheppard's Tiny Art Auction came, was much enjoyed, went, and netted many happy bidders some tiny art and the New Library Building Fund over $700.  This whole event was Pam's idea and she and John put in a lot of work to make it happen.  It is surely occasions like this that most strike me in this fundraising activity.  The word of wisdom in all the books I've read about fundraising say that "To raise money, you have to ask people for it."  And that is generally true, but there are yet others who just hear that there is an important need and and they then just act.   They are a minority, but we are especially grateful to each of them and to Pam and John who are definitely among them.

It seemed as if no time had passed after that event until the Christmas Craft Fair.  It was a beautiful two days and we had a table laden with pieces that were donated by various artists and craftsperson here on the Point and even from a bit away.  My neighbor's mother, who is a leatherworker and who lives in Saskatchewan sent us a leather bag and a tiny pair of deer skin shoes, both of which went out into the world that weekend.  A silk scarf woven in Nepal, beautiful photo prints and jewelry, fabric goods, fiber art and knitted accessories of all kinds joined them.  The entire two days brought over $2,200 to the Library Fund. And we thank the donors, the sellers, and the buyers!

And then, another two days passed and Phyllis Van Sant (who was in charge of the counting) told us that the grocery receipt totals from the International Marketplace would bring us yet another $2,200.  To all of you who saved and dropped your receipts into the boxes, Canadian and U.S. residents alike, whoopee!  Perhaps the International Marketplace will be willing to do it again next year.

We also sold Christmas/Holiday Gift Cards at the Craft Fair so that those who want to make a "Gift of a Library" to a friend, a family member or even to themselves may do so.  The minimum gift is $25.  Each gift will be recorded in the Gift Donation Book and will name both the giver and the recipient for our permanent/historical record of how this community built a new library.  The cards will continue be on sale at the library from 2pm to 3 pm every day that the library is open until Christmas.  Or if you need to make other arrangements, write us at foprl1@gmail.com.

May the remainder of the month be filled with good times and loving experiences and not too much rich food!  It is cold and grey and windy often, but it is also the great holiday season of our year.  We should enjoy!

And thanks for all your help and support, this month and all the previous months of the year that is about to pass away from us.

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

Thanks to the Artists

I wanted to take a moment to thank the artists who donated their work to last week's Tiny Art Auction at Auntie Pam's country Store, an event that raised around $700 for the new library.  If it had not been for the creators' generosity, there wouldn't have been anything for the buyers to buy or for a party to be had.  So, without more ado, their names:

George Biga
Ed Buendia
D. Lind
Sigge Stromberg
Acacia
Lisa Swayne
Kitty Doyle
Audrey Hoebres
Jody Gergsma
Vyna Werner
Pam Sheppard
Jack Proctor
Tiffany Ronge
Winston Inslee
Candy Downs
Karen Pollack
Val Mayer
Sonja Picard
Nancy Poirer
Savilla Kress
Rose Momsen
Tracy Wallace
Joy Otto
John Lyons
Alexander Tersakian
Paul Griffin
Terri Zukovic
Kristen Griffen
Colleen Stromberg

I was taking these names down in a hurry before the photos went away, and I hope that I have managed it with some degree of accuracy with respect to spelling.
--Judy Ross, for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

November, Then December

This month has seemed to rush by even faster than the months before it.  We wound up with 9 of the 10 matches made for the $5,000 Oct.-Nov. matching gift, meaning that it added $9,000 to our new library fund.  And great thanks to all those who brought their $500 matches forward, and to the five who offered a thousand each for the match.  You can all look at the "Showers of Gold" quilt at the Community Center and claim a square or half a square anyway as your own!

The International Market grocery receipts collection continues through November (and especially don't forget to put your receipt or a duplicate from the checker into the box when you are engaged in your Thanksgiving Dinner shopping).  The volunteers who are adding up all those receipt numbers--blessed be their names-- are planning to get us final numbers as fast as they can after month's end.  And more squares will need to be added to that quilt.

This Saturday night, there will be a party and silent auction of "Tiny Art" (7-9 pm) at Auntie Pam's Country Store (on Gulf) at which we can all celebrate the over $75,000 that has been raised so far for the new library, with more to come before year's end.  Pam Sheppard has engaged 35 or more local folks to produce small treasures (4x6, 5x7) for a silent auction whose proceeds will go to the new library.  They're small, but we need you all--a large crowd--there to celebrate!

Finally, or at least for this post, the Friends of the P.R. Library will have a table of  hand-made beauties of many sorts (photography, painting, glass sculpture, jewelry, quilts and quilted objects, hand-printed fabrics, knit accessories, etc.).  All the proceeds have been offered for the library and there is a $5,000 matching fund associated with it.  So you can buy and donate to the library and have your donation matched all in one swift move!

We are still looking for artists who are willing to donate a piece of their work to our table for this December 1-2 event.  A table is of limited size, however, so the work needs to be relatively small in order for us to properly display it.  If you or someone you know would be interested in making such a donation, please contact me at judywross@gmail.com.

Thanks to all of you, we've won an award!

November 3rd, Point Roberts Branch Manager, Kris Lamedico, Library Support Committee Chair, Barb Wayland and I attended the All Friends Library Gathering in Ferndale. This is an annual event including all the Friends Groups of the Whatcom County Library System. Included in the day is the ever popular potluck lunch, a key-note speaker - this year the topic was library advocacy, a report from each Friends group (my personal favorite part), and awards. This year the Point Roberts Friends of the Library won the annual award!! We were chosen because of all the work and money that this community has put forth to build a new library! The powers that be deemed our group to be inspirational! As president of the group, I must say thank you to those presenting the award to us, but mostly I must say thanks to all in the community; individuals, groups, businesses who have been so supportive in the Friends efforts to raise the half million dollars that this library needs to achieve a new space for our library of today and of the future. A big thanks to all of you.

News :: All Point Bulletin - Newspaper for Point Roberts, Washington and Delta, British Columbia

News :: All Point Bulletin - Newspaper for Point Roberts, Washington and Delta, British Columbia