FROM THE PRESIDENT: A YEAR IN REVIEW OF MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA PRESERVATION FUND

We began just about a year ago!

 

• We organized, debated, and shared a vision to save the Mission.

• We knew it would be hard, the hardest being the unknown.

• So we came up with a prayer to help us through.

• We created a board of directors that would have the grit and determination to see us through.

• We agonized over, debated and shared until a beautiful logo was created.

• We became a 501(3)(C) in October and it was official.

• We wrote countless articles, made beautiful marketing material and even produced some videos for us to use as instruments in fundraising and awareness. We are continuing to find new ways to publicize the Fund.

• We looked at events we could participate in to generate awareness of our Mission’s needs and started with the Faith Formation Conference in Santa Clara and our message was well received.

• We decided to have a concert at the Mission to show what the Fund is fighting to preserve. It was nothing short of a truly magical evening and opened many doors for us.

• We received our first “Angel Donor” with a matching grant of up to $500,000.00 effective through the end of 2016, to start the ball rolling.

• We hired a Web designer to get our Website up and running, we have a Facebook page and registered for GoFundMe.com as well as AmazonSmile (smileamazon.com). We also participated in Silicon Valley Gives.

• In February, we paid the Parish the first invoice for soft costs for the mission restoration – truly a milestone for the Fund

• We started a satellite campaign in the Bay Area and they are sponsoring a fundraiser in October which will help to bolster our matching funds donation and more.
• We hired a grant writer to help us find donations through grants. She is an incredible young lady whose creativeness and competence is truly a gift for the Fund.

 

We are so pleased that to date we have raised over $320,000.00 in donations, pledges and matching funds.

 

In June, a wonderful book about Sula, the Mission cat and a cancer survivor, was published. A generous amount of the proceeds from sales will be given to the Fund.

 

We are planning to reach out to the local community and continue to find ways to raise awareness (and funds) and to find those philanthropic individuals that will be stakeholders in our mission to save the Mission. We are ready to go where ever we can to “get the word out”!

 

Eating with the Seasons, a community supported agricultural program (CSA) that reaches San Benito, Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties have agreed to let us put a flyer in their weekly bags.

 

We hope to raise at least a quarter of the $14 million by the end of year 2017 and are making plans for an annual fundraiser that will become a yearly celebration for the stakeholders in our beautiful Mission. We hope it will open many more doors for us as well as build an ongoing relationship with the Mission and the community.

 

So if you are wondering how you can help, of course donations are always welcomed. But getting the word out about the plight of the Mission and what our community stands to lose if nothing is done, is paramount to hopefully finding those philanthropic individuals and/or companies that will become stakeholders in our mission to save The Mission.

 

We have a beautiful website, www.savemissionsjb.org, with more details of what the issues are and what you can do to help. If you utilize Facebook, please “like” the Mission San Juan Bautista Preservation Fund PAGE and have your friends and family “like” the page as well as it is vital to maintain a presence on line to spread the word. We have also joined the Community Foundation of San Benito County and are hoping to get greater exposure there as well as becoming a sponsor on Benitolink.

 

If you shop on Amazon, you can sign up for “AmazonSmile”, where you can designate our Fund to receive a percentage (½%) of sales every time you shop.

(https://smile.amazon.come/ch/47-5427661)

 

We also have a “GoFundMe.com” page (“29bft5nw”), and people can donate there as well.

 

We are also very excited to have reached the Bronze level GuideStar Nonprofit Profile. This is a testament to our Fund’s commitment to transparency and reaches more than seven million annual visitors to GuideStar, which travels to more than 180 websites and applications that are powered by GuideStar. For example, employees of PG&E can choose to donate to the Fund via their paycheck through the GuideStar program.

 

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this…but perhaps most importantly, I want to thank you, in advance, for becoming stakeholders in our “mission” to SAVE MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA.

 

Tami Adam – President

Mission San Juan Bautista Preservation Fund