If you summarized Simone Chevalier’s feelings about raising enough money to fix Morinville’s church steeple, the word would be “awesome.”
St. Jean Baptiste Parish members told Morinville council on Oct. 9 that the church hoped to raise $250,000 to apply for a federal matching-dollar grant.
The funds are necessary to save the steeple, fix the brickwork and rotten shingles, and paint the walls of the historic building.
The money had to be raised by Nov. 12 but the campaign to save the steeple met its goal on Nov. 7, when the fundraiser collected $256,138.
Chevalier said having the extra money can’t hurt.
“It’s an old church. We don’t know what’s going to happen when we expose the areas that have deteriorated,” she said.
Another charity performance on Saturday evening, the Enchantment Under the Sea fundraiser, provided the church with an additional $6,800, pushing the final number to $262,952.
Chevalier said this excludes any other donations collected over the weekend.
While the parish raised more money then expected, they have no guarantee that the application for the federal grant will prove successful.
If they don’t receive the federal money, Chevalier said they would use the collected funds for repairs.
She said people told her they could not imagine what Morinville would look like without the steeple.
“Some people they can’t imagine a church without a steeple and others say that’s our place to worship, that’s our church,” she said.
“I am very proud to belong to this community and the parish.”
Chevalier said the application for the grant is going out on Wednesday. The waiting period to hear from the government is 90 days.
