Barnabas Center Press Release
Submitted by Mary Ann Blackall, Community Relations Manager
Barnabas Center announced today that extraordinary support from the community has enabled the agency to meet the goal of raising $100,000 to meet the Weaver Family Foundation challenge grant, pledged to the agency in support of its Building More Room For Compassion campaign. When making the commitment, Mrs. Weaver communicated that she and Wayne share the common value with Barnabas Center’s board and staff that every gift makes a difference – regardless of the amount. Her message resonated with many, and though Barnabas set the goal of raising funds to meet the challenge grant by the end of 2013, the generosity of many individuals and organizations led the agency to reach the goal in only eleven weeks! Currently, a total of $830,000 has been raised toward the agency’s $1,250,000 campaign goal.
While tremendous progress has been made, Mrs. Weaver understands that Barnabas still has a long way to go. Due to the success of the initial challenge grant, Mrs. Weaver announced that she will establish $250,000 endowment for Barnabas to ensure the agency will have a long term building maintenance fund. The Delores Barr Weaver Fund will match dollar for dollar gifts of any amount toward the Barnabas building campaign up to a total of $250,000.
Wanda Lanier, Executive Director at Barnabas said, “We are thrilled about reaching the first challenge grant goal, which was achieved because of the incredible support of our community. Everyone at Barnabas is extremely grateful to the Weaver family for their support of our vision to serve as the major resource in Nassau County helping individuals and families achieve self-sufficiency. This additional matching gift will further propel Barnabas toward the next level of service to our community.”
Since 1986, Barnabas has been the safety-net provider for Nassau County’s most vulnerable citizens, connecting them with the help and hope they need to overcome crisis. Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in demand for services at the agency’s multiple locations. Consolidating all Barnabas programs in one facility will allow the agency to more efficiently and effectively serve residents of Nassau County. Last fiscal year, 95 percent of total agency expenses supported people in need; 5,000 people were served and more than a third of them were children. Barnabas Center has achieved a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for its sound fiscal management and efficient use of resources six years in a row; less than three percent of nonprofits nationwide can claim this accomplishment.
Construction to renovate the agency’s newly acquired building, at 1303 Jasmine Street, Fernandina Beach is slated to begin in early June, and completed by January 2014. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit the Barnabas web site at www.barnabasfernandina.com .
June 4, 2013 3:30 p.m.