St Martin's Episcopal Church in New Bedford MA
A Message from Lois Ayotte
Our church is launching a Building Improvement Capital Campaign to raise $50,000 for much needed repairs to our parish hall. We are going to put on a new roof, insulation, vinyl siding, new carpet, a new fence, replace some old radiators, new doors with emergency exit handles, and new stairs because the current ones are dangerous for our elderly population. We have applied for a loan from the Episcopal Dioceses that will have to be repaid. We cannot absorb this expense within our current operating budget, so we are launching this campaign. Donations can be made in various ways. The most obvious one is a direct donation to St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Capital Campaign, 136 Rivet Street, NB 02744. We are also going to have numerous events and activities; the first will be initiated this Sunday with our Time for Change campaign. We will be asking our parishioners on the first and third Sunday of the month to donate their spare change in a jar that will be available after the church service. All the change collected will be deposited into the Building Improvement Capital Campaign. Also, one of our members is going to donate half the proceeds she receives from the sale of her beautiful art note paper to the fund. We are planning a Salute to Veterans Organ Concert on November 9. We are a small parish, but an active and community-minded parish. We do a lot of outreach, and we want to remain solvent, and increase the amount of time our current minister, Scott Ciosek, spends at St. Martin's. When I told my neighbor, Amy Winn, about this campaign, she immediately volunteered to send $50 for the cause. How wonderful is that? Amy is not a member our parish. I wonder how many other friends on Facebook or in our community would be willing to donate in any way? This is a year-long campaign, so it could be done in installments and that would work. We are still brainstorming other ideas for community involvement and capital gain. I appreciate your reading this long message. Please keep our church in your prayers."