reported Thursday in a news release that it has reached 34 percent of its capital fundraising goal of $850,000, and is within $20,000 of reaching the next phase of its building remodel thanks to recent pledges, grants and contributions from community members.
Executive Director Britt Nelson said that the organization had received a major boost to its fundraising efforts, which in turn, will mean better service to those in need. Plateau Outreach Ministries provides basic needs services to the communities of Enumclaw, Black Diamond, Buckley and surrounding rural areas. Services include a food and clothing bank, emergency assistance for utilities, rent and other needs and the More Pennies from Heaven thrift store.
“We kicked off the latest phase of our campaign in March and were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community,” Nelson said. New donations included a campaign pledge by Dr. Jim and Nancy Merrill for $25,000. Enumclaw Rotary provided a new grant for $8,100 toward infrastructure that is useable now and in the future, remodeled facility. A second grant provided by the H.J. Heinz Foundation with matching funds from H.J. Heinz Company totals $7,500 for the food bank. Substantial pledges and donations have been received from individuals and local businesses including: , Kory Keath of Edward Jones, Dr. Kevin & Kim McKeighen, , and Party Pail. POM has received private donations from many more community members and hopes to begin this next phase of construction later this summer.
The organization has been remodeling its building in phases. The first phase included purchase, move-in and remodeling needed to operate the More Pennies from Heaven thrift store. The next phase included exterior improvements, new windows, doors and awnings all paid for with a generous grant from The Employee Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound.
The phase currently being planned will include three main components; 1) confidential interview rooms for emergency assistance; 2) remodeled food bank storage, distribution and refrigeration; and 3) space for added services to include a washer, dryer and shower facility for clients in need, computer stations for job searches and hopefully multi-purpose space to allow for future flexibility. Plateau Outreach has already received grants toward this work from the Enumclaw Regional Healthcare Foundation and the H.J. Heinz Company.
“We are tailoring this building to our clients’ and community’s needs one step at a time as funding has been made available. While we are close to beginning the next phase we are nowhere near the finish line on the entire project. This is because once we have funded and completed all renovations; we want to concentrate our fundraising on retiring our mortgage. With that done, our cash flow can be focused solely on client services and operations. Helping others is why we exist, and we want to remove all impediments to that focus,” Nelson said.
