Duane Hicks
Those who have donated $500 or more to the “Building for the Future” fundraising campaign for the new Fort Frances Public Library and Technology Centre are urged to check a master list and make sure their name will be included on the donor wall that will be made to recognize them.
Library board chair Joyce Cunningham said the building committee must know prior to May 1 who will be included on the etched glass donor wall.
As such, everyone who has donated $500 or more either should drop by the library and check the list there or visit www.fort-frances.com/library.
“We’re asking anybody who’s donated if they would check the list because, after May 1, it becomes almost impossible to change it,” noted Cunningham, explaining the final list of names then has to be given to Pruys Direct, which, in turn, has to make sure the wall is ready for the grand-opening on June 21.
“We’re quite enthusiastic about the donor wall because we are going to be using etched glass,” she added.
“But once you do it, that’s it,” she stressed.
Cunningham noted unlike the Riverside Foundation for Health Care’s donors walls at the hospital, the one at the library reflects the singular “Building for the Future” campaign.
There only will be this one wall, and won’t be added to over the coming years.
Donors also can take this opportunity to make any last-minute name changes, whether it’s correcting spelling errors, putting the names from a joint donation in a particular order, or changing initials to a full name or vice-versa.
As well, those who always had meant to donate to the new library, but never got around to it, still can do so donate prior to May 1 and get their name on the wall, or increase their donation up to $500 to get their name on the list, said Mark Kowalchuk, former chair of the fundraising campaign and current chair of the grand-opening committee.
“We know there are some people that want to donate, that want to get their name on that board,” said Cunningham.
“What’s happening is what we’d hoped would happen,” she added. “People are now starting to look at this and saying, ‘This is our library, and I am glad to have been a part of all of this.’
“And if they want that participation being in the form of being on the donor wall, then this is their last opportunity to do so.”
Cunningham stressed they aren’t “beating the bushes for more money.” Rather, they just want willing donors to know the opportunity is still there.
“We’ve said we’ve finished our campaign, and that’s true—we have,” Cunningham continued. “However, we can always use more money.
“We’re spending, we’re buying, and we’re very excited about the opportunity that’s been given to us to purchase a wide variety of furnishings and technology equipment that is going to be of wonderful use and benefit to the community.”
Cunningham said the donor wall will hang near the entrance to the new library, so it will be one of the first things patrons see when they come through the door.
She added the library building committee was adamant about having the new donor wall ready for the grand-opening.
“That was our goal right from the offset—when people walked in for the very first time, they would be able to check their names and see where they are, and the fact that their donations have been recognized,” said Kowalchuk.
“Unfortunately, because of the limited wall space, we had to cut if off at $500, as much as we wanted to recognize everybody’s donations,” he explained, noting they did run a series of ads in the Times during the course of the fundraising campaign to try and recognize as many donors as possible.
In related news, Kowalchuk said plans are underway for the grand-opening on Monday, June 21, which will extend into a week-long celebration.
“There will be a full range of activities throughout the week that will highlight and incorporate different user groups and different parts of the library,” he hinted.
‘That will be running right from the Monday to closing time on Friday,” he noted.
