Duane Hicks
Support for the Knox Renewal project continues to grow.
Voyageur Lions past president Bill Michl, along with charter member Joyce Zub, visited Knox United Church here yesterday to give a $1,300 cheque to Bill and Mary Jane Gushulak of the project committee.
Some $300 of the amount was the prize for the Knox United Church team of Randy DeGagne and Rev. Barb Miller, for being the top fundraising team in this year’s “Polar Plunge,” while the remaining $1,000 was a donation from the club.
Michl said the club decided to support the project to make the church handicap-accessible because it is a good cause that benefits the whole community.
Helping those with disabilities is part of Lions International’s mandate, he noted.
Bill Gushulak was thrilled to receive the bonus donation.
“We’re ecstatic,” he enthused. “The support we’ve had from the Voyageur Lions Club, and the community in general, has been tremendous.”
Gushulak said fundraising has been “ticking along,” and people are recognizing the need for making the church accessible to all.
“There’s been enough [donations] to get the construction started,” he noted.
“And once the construction started, people really started to recognize, ‘This thing’s really going. Let’s help it out.’”
Gushulak said the first phase of renovations is moving along, with the focus being on the installation of an elevator and barrier-free washrooms.
As reported last month, Knox qualified for the finals in the Aviva Community Fund Challenge and now is waiting to see what the judges’ final announcement will be on Jan. 27.
The church is seeking up to $100,000 in funding.
Gushulak also is keeping his fingers crossed that Knox will win $1,000 on Jan. 20, when Aviva draws 60 names of those projects that garnered 1,000 votes or more during its Community Fund Challenge.
“We’re hoping we get into that mix,” he smiled.
“It won’t affect what happens on the 27th,” he added. “It’s a bit of a bonus round.”
