(Aug. 18, 2016) The Worcester County Library Foundation is closing in on its fundraising goal for a new branch building in Berlin, according to the foundation’s public relations manager Lisa Outten Harrison.
The foundation will attempt to close the gap during a costume ball fundraiser, Sept. 16, at the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin.
“We’re having this major, major fundraiser — really the only public fundraiser for the new Berlin branch,” Harrison said. “It’s a Roaring ’20s party at the Atlantic Hotel.
“We knew we wanted to have a fundraiser at the Atlantic Hotel right there in Berlin to get the community to support this, and we knew it was going to be a lawn party with some jazz music,” she added. “As we got going, we thought, ‘well, shoot, let’s theme this and make it even more fun.’ People can dress up and just be very festive and build the enthusiasm.”
Harrison said the foundation has been working hard on the silent auction portion of the evening, where it hopes to raise a portion of the $83,000 still needed to match a $100,000 grant from the Humphreys Foundation, received in May. The foundation has until May 1, 2017 to do so.
“This will help us and we’ll be continuing to accept donations, but as far as I know at this point this will be our big public fundraiser,” she said.
Tickets are $35 and include hors d’oeuvres. Frankie Nanna & The Dukes of Delmarva will perform golden age jazz music, and a cash bar will be available to guests.
“We want everybody to have a great time, support the library and the community, and hopefully get some great deals at our silent auction,” Harrison said. “And hopefully this helps us to meet our goals to finish our fundraising campaign for the Berlin library.”
While the foundation is closing in on its goals, Library Director Jennifer Rank cautioned that the library is still waiting on a $1 million grant from the state, which puts the stop on any hard estimate of a start date on construction of the new 11,400- square-foot building on Harrington Street.
“I would be hesitant to say that there is a target 2024. Obviously the goal is to raise funds to make this the best library, and it might be beyond that figure,” she said.
“We applied for another state grant, which we won’t know if we get until next spring. We’re still in the cost-estimating phase right now, so we’re trying to figure out exactly how much things are going to cost,” Rank added.
“We hope to break ground spring of 2017, but until all of our funding lines up it’s hard to start the project. We’re still in this sort of wait and see mode.”
The Roaring ’20s fundraiser is scheduled to run from 7-9 p.m. at the Atlantic Hotel on 2 North Main Street in Berlin. For more information or tickets, call 410-632-3970 or visit www.worcesterlibrary.org/foundation.
The foundation will attempt to close the gap during a costume ball fundraiser, Sept. 16, at the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin.
“We’re having this major, major fundraiser — really the only public fundraiser for the new Berlin branch,” Harrison said. “It’s a Roaring ’20s party at the Atlantic Hotel.
“We knew we wanted to have a fundraiser at the Atlantic Hotel right there in Berlin to get the community to support this, and we knew it was going to be a lawn party with some jazz music,” she added. “As we got going, we thought, ‘well, shoot, let’s theme this and make it even more fun.’ People can dress up and just be very festive and build the enthusiasm.”
Harrison said the foundation has been working hard on the silent auction portion of the evening, where it hopes to raise a portion of the $83,000 still needed to match a $100,000 grant from the Humphreys Foundation, received in May. The foundation has until May 1, 2017 to do so.
“This will help us and we’ll be continuing to accept donations, but as far as I know at this point this will be our big public fundraiser,” she said.
Tickets are $35 and include hors d’oeuvres. Frankie Nanna & The Dukes of Delmarva will perform golden age jazz music, and a cash bar will be available to guests.
“We want everybody to have a great time, support the library and the community, and hopefully get some great deals at our silent auction,” Harrison said. “And hopefully this helps us to meet our goals to finish our fundraising campaign for the Berlin library.”
While the foundation is closing in on its goals, Library Director Jennifer Rank cautioned that the library is still waiting on a $1 million grant from the state, which puts the stop on any hard estimate of a start date on construction of the new 11,400- square-foot building on Harrington Street.
“I would be hesitant to say that there is a target 2024. Obviously the goal is to raise funds to make this the best library, and it might be beyond that figure,” she said.
“We applied for another state grant, which we won’t know if we get until next spring. We’re still in the cost-estimating phase right now, so we’re trying to figure out exactly how much things are going to cost,” Rank added.
“We hope to break ground spring of 2017, but until all of our funding lines up it’s hard to start the project. We’re still in this sort of wait and see mode.”
The Roaring ’20s fundraiser is scheduled to run from 7-9 p.m. at the Atlantic Hotel on 2 North Main Street in Berlin. For more information or tickets, call 410-632-3970 or visit www.worcesterlibrary.org/foundation.