Every year, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is nationally recognized as “Giving Tuesday” – an invitation to charitable giving in response to the commercial holiday of Black Friday. Giving Tuesday has been a highly successful fundraising effort in years past for St. Luke’s – raising funds to hire a Development Director and Campus Minister on staff, among other things.
This year, we are again asking for your prayerful consideration of making a charitable gift in support of St. Luke University Parish, on Tuesday, December 3rd. This year’s donations will go towards putting the final pieces on our outdoor canopy project. Read below for some background on the project, and what is left to go!
The goal of St. Luke’s Giving Tuesday campaign is to raise enough funds to complete the canopy project. For the past 18 months we have faced a variety of delays, cost increases and the need to complete a number of safety related projects. Those additional projects have been addressed and are moving toward completion. Here’s a brief summary of progress to date.
If you look up at the edges of the canopy roof you will see the newly installed snow fences that will prevent melting snow or ice from sliding off the roof. These are commercial grade and maintenance free. Our thanks to Paul Borkowski for his time and talent to install the system.
Concerns over exterior lighting along the north and south sides of the building are being resolved. Light fixtures for the north side will be the flood type providing visibility extending over the asphalt pavement. Ornamental fixtures for the south side will illuminate the walkway and first row of parking. All fixtures are on order and we hope to have them mounted on the church before bad weather. Completing the interior wire routing will be accomplished soon afterwards.
(Yes, we will be asking for volunteer help!)
The most significant project is the purchase and installation of the boiler for the sidewalk snow melt system, estimated at a total cost of $60,000. However, piping was installed under the concrete walkway when the canopy was erected and extends out to the drip line to prevent snow build up. The manifold to distribute heat to the various zones was installed at the same time. What remains is to purchase the boiler, plumb the gas lines and connect the boiler to the manifold. The boiler, estimated to cost $20,000, is the single biggest expense and has been the primary source of delay due to parish finances. After reserving last years Giving Tuesday donations and combining the surpluses from the other projects, we have approximately $38,000 currently available to complete the project. We are within reach of the finish line.
The goal for Giving Tuesday is to raise the balance of $22,000 to Finish the Canopy!