Ground Floor Construction Began in September!

Funds for Kitchen and A/V Still Needed

The congregation voted unanimously at its annual meeting on June 3^rd to proceed to construction in September for the Ground Floor Project.  This is the result of much good work over the past several years.  THANK YOU for the many gifts of vision, time, energy, and funds that have made this possible.  Thank you also for the questions and skepticisms that have made the project better.

The kitchen still needs our help.  The project that will start in September has enough in the budget to build all the physical, plumbing, and electrical infrastructure for a kitchen, but not enough for equipment (stove, oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc.), cabinets, counters, and sinks.  We have received $18,000 as a challenge match to the congregation to raise the $36,000 necessary to finish off the kitchen.  Labor and expertise have been volunteered for build out and installation.

If more than $36,000 is raised or if less is needed for the kitchen, then we will set it aside until we have enough to purchase audio/ visual equipment (estimated at $32,000) for the Ground Floor, which is also not currently in the budget for the project.

If you are interested in contributing to help raise these funds, please fill out a gift form, which is available here: http://www.cvuus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pledge-Form-OWLL-final-push-final.pdf.  As always, gifts of all shapes and sizes are welcomed.  They can be new or one-time gifts, increases to previously pledged amounts, or extensions of current pledges (for a fourth year, for example).

More Information:

At a congregational meeting in February 2018, we presented a project update that showed a gap of $172,000 between “base project” costs and the amounts we had raised through gifts and pledges during the Ground Floor Capital Campaign in 2017.  Since February, we have carefully reviewed the project designs and budget, which led to a revised budget that maintains core project elements AND reduces total costs by almost 10%.  The net result is that the gap between projected income and expenses was reduced by about $85,000 to a new total of $88,315.

The Capital Campaign Team reconvened in April and May and have quietly contacted around 15-20 generous members who have made additional gifts or pledges covering the gap of $88,315 so that construction can begin in September.  In addition, several members have pledged $18,000 toward a match challenge to the congregation for the $36,000 necessary to purchase kitchen equipment, cabinets, counters, etc.

For more information about the kitchen, please contact Kate Gridley (kmgridley@gmail.com or 802-9891928) or Alan Moore (alanwmoore1947@gmail.com or 865-335-2028).  For more information about the project generally, please see our website at http://www.cvuus.org/connection/ground-floor/ or contact Steve Maier (sbmaier55@gmail.com or 802-238-6699).