July 10, 2013 is
D-Day. “D-Day meaning the deadline for the Twin Pike Family YMCA to complete
the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Challenge Grant,” said YMCA Executive Director Marsha
Garrison. “For the past 12 months, our board
of directors, fundraising committee and staff have worked extremely hard to
raise $1.25 million dollars. These funds are about one-third of the $3.85
million estimated construction cost for the YMCA Phase III Project to build an
indoor aquatics center and walking track. This is a huge amount of money for a
Y our size to raise in one year.”
Garrison
explained that the $1.25 million is the amount stipulated by the Mabee
Foundation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, that the Twin Pike Family YMCA must raise in
order to receive a $500,000 donation from the Foundation. “This $500,000 grant is the final amount
needed to complete fundraising on this project,” said Garrison.
Is the Twin Pike
Family YMCA going to be successful in completing the grant challenge? “We certainly hope so,” commented YMCA
Fundraising Chair Charlie Perkins. “As of July 3, we have less than $10,000 to
raise in cash donations and signed pledges to complete the Mabee Challenge Grant.
This doesn’t sound like much when you consider how far we’ve come since we
started a year ago. But until the number
below the bottom line shows we have $1.25 million in cash and pledges, we’re
going to keep knocking on doors and making phone calls as long as we can.”
A public
announcement concerning the outcome of the challenge grant will be made on
Monday, July 15, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. The
announcement will be made at the Twin Pike Family YMCA facility at 614 Kelly
Lane, in Louisiana, MO.
Perkins and
Garrison reiterated that according to the grant guidelines, the YMCA may secure
signed pledges, to help meet the challenge goal. Perkins also stated that donors have until
2018 to complete their pledge agreements with the Twin Pike Family YMCA. “This type of grant makes it easier for some
to donate to the project, because the payments can be spread out over five
years,” said Garrison. “We want everyone
in our community – from individuals, to businesses, to churches and
organizations – to know they can still contribute and make a positive
difference in the outcome of this challenge,” Perkins added.
Of the funds
raised, approximately $60,000 has been in the form of in-kind services. “These
are services that have helped us move forward on this project and that have a
dollar value associated with them, Garrison shared. “In-kind services are such things as
printing, broadcast air time, equipment use, etc. The value of the in-kind services counts towards what we need
to raise for the Mabee Challenge Grant, but we will still need to raise this
amount in cash in order to cover all of the construction costs of the project.”
“This is one of
the reasons we continue to push for more donations,” said Perkins. “We want to
have as much of the needed cash in hand so we can begin construction on the
project as soon as possible.”