Endowment Fund
Dear Editor: Our mission at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church is to seek and strive to walk in love with God, one another, and all of creation. This means that our hearts and minds are always attuned to how we can support the needs of our neighbors of all ages and walks of life.
Many years ago, members of St. Peter’s had the vision to start setting aside funds in an endowment that would support future ministries of the church, specifically for spiritual growth and outreach as well as facility improvements/maintenance.
The endowment fund was formed and began accepting donations to be invested and grow to support these purposes. These funds are not available for the ongoing operating expenses of the church. After years of careful stewardship of these gifts, the endowment fund is now able to offer an annual application for funds for spiritual growth and outreach (within St. Peter’s or the broader community) and for facility improvements/maintenance of St. Peter’s. The facility improvements/maintenance funds have been used for projects to assist us in keeping our buildings safe and welcoming for the many non-profit groups who use our buildings on a regular basis.
This fall we are pleased to announce that we were able to disperse a total of $23,400 from the spiritual growth and outreach fund to these community organizations in Sitka: Brave Heart Volunteers, Sitka Cancer Survivors Society, Sitka Homeless Coalition, Sitka Conservation Society, Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H Club, Sitka Music Festival, and St. Peter’s for spiritual growth opportunities and the purchase of large print hymnals for the Sitka Pioneers Home.
In addition to providing these funds for community outreach purposes, we were also recently able to disperse additional monies from a special outreach fund set aside at St. Peter’s that were available because of community and church member donations throughout the year for the specific goal of outreach. We awarded another total of $5,000 to the Alaska Correctional Ministries, Blessings in a Backpack, Brave Heart Volunteers, Episcopal Recovery Ministries, Good News Club, Sitka Homeless Coalition, Sitka Salvation Army and Youth Advocates of Sitka.
A big thank you to all of the recipients for the work you do to contribute to the well-being of our community. And a big thank you to all of you who are faithful with your generous donations and financial support, that enable us to support and collaborate with our neighbors, for the well-being of our community.
On behalf of the members, and friends of St. Peter’s … Thank you!
Rev. Julie Platson
