By Kevin Mercer, Leap of Faith Pledge Drive co-chair
So, something happened a few weeks ago. You might have already heard.
A group of UUCC members and friends gathered in Sanctuary B after service to hear about the hired consultant’s (Rev. Lydia) take on our finances. That is an interesting story in itself, but that is not the story I’m sharing here.
With all the talk of Balloon Busters, our commercial loan coming due, refinancing, and an important pledge drive about to start, there were about 50-60 people interested in the wisdom Rev. Lydia was going to bestow on us. Among them was Bob Henig.
As Rev. Lydia was wrapping up and taking questions, Bob realized that he hadn’t heard what we were going to do about the loan coming due this spring. As he scanned the room to see if others had noticed this omission, his eyes locked with Ken Crandell’s, who was also surprised. A moment later Bob felt a tap on his shoulder and there was Ken, kneeling by his chair. They had a quick, quiet conversation. Ann Wing asked if people could give money to pay off the loan now and Bob asked for the mic.
Standing in front of us, Bob asked people able to give $5,000 to pay down the Building Loan to raise their hand. He counted 10 hands and figured he had just dropped our loan amount by 50 grand, and that was worth standing up for.
As he collected those names and reached out to confirm their commitments, stuff started to happen. Some members were willing to give more than the $5K. People talked to others that missed the meeting and Bob started getting calls.
In the end, 19 families contributed $202,000 to pay down the principal on our commercial loan. That’s more than a fifth of the roughly one million dollars that remains on the loan!
Laurice (UUCC Executive Director) is currently waiting until all the pledged money comes in and then will make one large payment to the bank.
Kudos to Bob for standing up and asking. Kudos to Ken for being the quiet support. Kudos to everyone who was bold enough to raise their hands. Kudos to all the others who stepped up and stepped up even more than Bob’s ask.
And kudos to our entire congregation! Some of us didn’t hear Bob’s ask. Some of us aren’t in a position to respond to this type of ask, and I know that there are members who give in greatly impactful ways beyond their pocketbook.
We are generous people and we should celebrate that!
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