There is good news to report about the zeal with which the public responded to the Pinole History Museum’s winter 2022 fundraising appeal, it’s first since the pre-COVID days of late 2019.
As of May 31, the museum’s generous donors gifted the museum with $17,850. This was the highest total raised of the museum’s four mail appeals. Add in $1,700 end-of-year gifts received in December 2021, and the museum received $19,550 in the six months from December 2021 to May 2022.
In four appeals — one in 2018, two in 2019, and one in 2022 — the museum board has raised $53,180. Including money raised from donations excluding the appeals, the museum board has raised more than $80,000.
This clearly establishes:
• The museum board’s ability to raise money, which addresses City Council members’ and opponents’ specious concerns about sustainability, and the public’s thirst for a museum in Pinole.
Extraordinary total
This fundraising total is extraordinary, because the museum still does not have a home. This money was donated on a hope and a dream — and a belief that this Pinole City Council will honor the intentions and commitments of previous city councils dating back several decades to renovate the historic Faria House for use as a community history museum.
It’s also extraordinary because the museum board did no fundraising at all in 2020 and 2021 — no appeals and no private requests — because, as we told our supporters in April 2020:
“The Pinole History Museum board of directors wants to thank you for your financial support, and for encouraging us to proceed with our goal of establishing a world-class, small-city museum in the historic Faria House. We will get there.
“These are wild, crazy, unpredictable times. And scary, too. We are fortunate to live in a community that is strong and supportive. We shall get through this.
“We understand the financial and emotional strain the coronavirus pandemic has placed on everyone. This is affecting many people we know. We feel it, too.
“For the last two years the Pinole History Museum has mailed two appeal letters per year, once in late April, and another in early November. The response from our donors has been generous and enthusiastic. For this we thank you.
“This letter is different. We haven’t attached a donor card and we’re not asking for money. We are just hoping you, your families, and the people you care about, are well. And stay well.
“We’ll be in touch again in late fall. We are hopeful that this challenging time will be just a footnote in our history by then.
“As always, thanks for supporting the Pinole History Museum. And, keep your spirits up.”
The museum board is grateful for the public’s continued support of the museum project. They are keeping our spirits up.
