The timing couldn’t be better”as OREPA continues to build the campaign against the new bomb plant at Y12, a long-time donor from eastern Kentucky has provided a challenge to OREPA supporters with a promise to match all contributions in $1,000 increments up to a total of $5,000. This means donors who are in a position to make a $1000 contribution to OREPA will double the impact of their gift.
The purpose of the matching challenge is to encourage OREPA donors to think big.
A mutual friend, upon hearing of the gift, said, “I know him, and I’m surprised he can afford to give OREPA a gift like that.”
That’s precisely the point of the matching challenge”to encourage our supporters to think carefully about how important this work is, and how deep their commitment to it is.
“Many of us are not able to make a $1,000 gift,” said OREPA coordinator Ralph Hutchison. “We know times are tight. But some of us, at least a few of us, are able to do it. We might have to rethink our timing or our priorities at the moment, but this is a really rare chance to double the impact of a gift. In this case, it may be a stretch to give $1,000, but if you can make that stretch, you are giving $2,000″and the second thousand is no effort at all!”
OREPA’s fundraising committee welcomes gifts of all sizes at any time. “If you do the your math and say, “˜Darn, I can’t come up with a thousand, but I could give $500, by all means do it,” said Glenda Struss Keyes of OREPA’s fundraising committee. “We’ll look for donors to match that, too. And the one thing you can be sure of is OREPA will spend every penny on the work to stop nuclear weapons production in Oak Ridge and clean up the mess there.”
The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance is a 501(c)(3) public charity. All contributions are tax deductible. Donations should be sent to OREPA at P O Box 5743, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.
“OREPA has always been as strong as the support of our members,” Hutchison noted. “It’s the members who have kept us going for twenty-fours years, even when times are hard. People recognize this is crucial work, and it requires resources. And our supporters also appreciate that with our strong core of volunteers, we are able to do a lot with a little.”
