Delmont library’s matching fundraiser challenge nears $30,000 goal
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Last year, Delmont librarian Denni Grassel and members of the library board got an early Christmas gift, when work on their brand-new building allowed them to start moving in just a few days before the holiday.
This year, they are on track for another early visit from St. Nick, in the form of a $30,000 matching fundraising campaign that is less than $2,000 short of its goal.
“It’s humbling,” Grassel said. “We’re honored to serve the community.”
In October, a local couple wishing to remain anonymous issued a $20,000 matching challenge that was followed shortly by an additional $10,000 match from Delmont Library board president Louisa Fordyce and her husband.
Last month, “we had a man just walk in, tell us he heard about the challenge and said that if we met our goal, he would donate an additional $5,000,” Grassel said.
Should the fundraising campaign meet its $30,000 goal, it would mean a total of $65,000, more than two-thirds of library’s annual $90,000 budget.
“The state gives us $20,000, and we get another $5,000 or so from local organizations,” Grassel said.
The rest typically is done through fundraising.
“Outside of raising the money for the new library — and that process took six years — we’ve never had a campaign where we’ve raised this much,” Grassel said, crediting the library staff and the wide variety of programs it has come to offer in recent years.
“When people would drop off a check, I’d ask why they decided to donate,” Grassel said. “The overwhelming answers were things like our children’s area, the new outdoor learning center and all of the interactive things we now offer. We’ve just become much more of a central area to the community.”
Roughly 200 donors had combined to raise just more than $28,000 as of Dec. 8.
“We’re almost there, but we’re not there yet,” Grassel said.
The money raised will go toward the library’s operating budget, and Grassel said library officials would like to create an endowment, “so we can have some sustainability.”
“This is a wonderful show of generosity by the community, but it’s not something we could expect every year,” she said.
For more, or to donate to the library’s campaign, see DelmontLibrary.org.