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The Pledge Drive
at Four Quarters
Highlights below: Pledge Program Stats; 2005 Letter to our Members;
New ePledge Electronic Direct Checking Account Pledge available

   There are many things about Four Quarters that set it apart and of which we are proud. And one of the most important is the degree of outright support we receive from our Members.
   It is this support that allowed Four Quarters to purchase The Members Village in 1999 and purchase the 50 acre Liesinger Tract in 2001. Land now set aside in permanent trust.
     In 2005 Four Quarters is presented with a serious challenge and a real opportunity. To purchase the remaining 40 acres of the Land that is our Sanctuary and place it into permanent trust. There is more, much more, to this plan; as it includes expanding our winter time guest quarters and installing the commercial grade septic system required to support our future growth. But the most important part of this plan is you. Our Membership.

     Our goal for the 2005 Pledge Drive is to enroll 2/3rds of our Members in a monthly commitment of support for the Land. That would be 250 Members. And to use their pledges in direct support of the Land. To prepay the new mortgage so that the Land is held free and clear as soon as possible. And to fund the new facilities planned for the camp. Facilities that will allow year round use by the Members.
     $50 a month would over the course of a year fund a new pump house. Just $10 a month would make a very real difference by funding the sweat lodge firewood for an event; it's the power of people. If every Member pledged just $5 a month we would pay off the mortgages in less than 5 years. With our new ePledge; even $1 dollar a month can help!
     So don't think that the amount of your pledge will not make a difference, it most certainly will.

     In this section we present quite a bit of information about Four Quarters financials and ways you can pledge. And please, do feel free to call the office with your questions. That's 814-784-3075.
    Donations and Our Wish List for detailed info on how you can pledge, your taxes and in-kind giving.
ePledge - Our new direct checking account pledge option with Vanco eServices(excellent for small pledges)
Download an ePledge Authorization Form 60kb  Download Vanco's ePledge brouchure 350kb
     The Land Trust   Engineering Drawings, plat maps and information on the gifts of Land to the Church, plans for camp improvements. Mortgages, payments and just what will your pledge go towards.
     The Pledge Makers   Our Thank You! to the folks who support the work.
     The Board of Directors   Comment or complaint? These are the folks!

The Land in Trust
September 2004
     (from our Membership letter, mailed late September, 2004)

    As Four Quarters completes its tenth year, we take time to think about all the challenges and opportunities that have brought this small Interfaith Sanctuary to where it is today, with its current plans and hopes for the future. Ten years ago Four Quarters began as an idea, a commitment and beautiful land. The first Standing Stone rose up on the Land, alone, but full of potential for what could rise up around it. We didn’t know then what we were or what we were to become.
    We became a Church, including Full Moon services and shared meals. We created ceremony in the Stone Circle as our hearts showed us the way. Somehow the Land survived its first two years and began to grow as roads, showers and a stage were built. The Stones began to exert their influence and we became aware that we were working with something larger than ourselves, that would stretch far into the future. And one by one, people came and made their own commitment and their own choice to weave this Circle into their lives.

    In order to preserve Four Quarters and the Standing Stones, it became clear that the Church must own the Land we call home. And in 1999 the Church purchased our first tract of Land, which became the Members’ Village. This was made possible by the private commitments of a small group of Members. In 2001 we launched our first capital funds drive and over a three month period contacted almost every one of our then 325 Members by telephone. Our Members met the challenge by pledging $30,000 which made possible the gift to the Church of 49 acres of Land, now owned and protected in perpetuity. That large gift and the pledges of the Membership secured The High Meadow and North Crook, as well as the creek as far as the Hemlock Hole. But it left the remainder of the camp to the uncertainties of private ownership. Since then The Board of Directors has puzzled out how to best preserve the remaining Land of Four Quarters. And if you were present at the closing ceremony of this year’s Stones Rising, you heard an amazing announcement.
    Our Church has been approved for a full commercial bank loan which, if acted upon, will allow the gift to our Church by Orren Whiddon of the remaining 40 acres of Land actively used by the Church. This loan has been in negotiation with First United Bank and Trust of Cumberland, Maryland over the course of the summer season and the property is in final appraisal as we write this letter. Using the two properties that the Church now owns as collateral, we are seeking one consolidation loan that will bring the entirety of the camp into Church ownership. A commercial business loan of $145,000 over fifteen years that will secure property that is now worth four to five times that figure. This means that we will then own all of the Land that is used for the camp. In perpetuity. The Labyrinth, Main Parking, the High Meadow, The Stone Circle, Merchants Village, The North Crook and Hemlock Hole, The Big Bottom Member’s Camp and both sides of the river until far south of the Members Camp.
    But there is more. As part of this land purchase strategy, we have spent the summer working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Regulation and Ken Schultze Engineering Associates. And we are at the final approval stage of a legal commercial septic system permit for the camp; a system to be installed in the North Crook, built to state of the art ecological standards and capable of supporting our growth for decades to come. This year the Church has spent over $5,000 just on the necessary soil testing and engineering work for this system, and as many of our Members have noticed, we have purchased the shiny new backhoe that will allow live in staff to perform most of the construction. We expect to receive final approval by late October 2004 and expect to spend $12,000 just on materials. But the successful installation of this system is the underpinning for everything to come: finishing the kitchen, an in-camp deep well and piped water, enclosed winter worthy showers and toilets, cabins and more.
    And still even more. As we have worked on the permitting for the North Crook system we have also tested and been approved for a septic system in the Members’ Camp area. Although not a part of the current engineering work, showers and toilets in the Members’ Camp are a high priority. And we have been approved and septic permits have been issued for a second building next to the Members’ Village. You may have noticed the site preparations as you drive into camp. This mobile home is going to be installed this fall and will triple our ability to sleep over Members in the winter months. The new building will sit on its own separate parcel of land, as a part of Orren’s gift to the church and will be owned by the Church.
    Taken together, we feel that it was this kind of long-term planning and financial commitment by the church, and your history of giving as Members, that persuaded the commercial bank that our Church and our Members were worth the risk.
    Indeed we are sinking deep roots in the Land.

    And now I get to the nitty-gritty of this letter to you. I am asking you, and every Member of Four Quarters, to join the Pledge Program for the year 2005. Every one of us. So that we can secure this commercial loan and preserve the Land. The Pledge Program is the core of our fundraising effort to secure and pay down the new bank loan and provide for the major site improvements of the next few years. It is the single most important commitment you can make to safeguard the Land. Imagine, if every one of Four Quarters’ 385 Members pledged just $10 a month, the entirety of the Land would be debt-free in just over three years. Or imagine the yearly income that would be freed up for improvements to the camp. Imagine!
    Beginning in the next few weeks, those of us privileged to live on the Land will begin calling each of you, the Members of Four Quarters. We hope to explain the details of securing the new commercial loan and planning for the new septic system, aswell as answer any questions that you may have. And even making twenty calls a night, it will still take us almost a month to speak with each of you. But we want to share our excitement about these new possibilities, and of course, encourage you to join the Pledge Program, if you have not already done so.
    We know there are many expressions of support and many differing personal circumstances. And we will respect the choices you make. But if you do believe in the value of Four Quarters and want it to last, please consider making a commitment to the Pledge Program.

    Blessings upon you and your House,


    Patricia J. Althouse,
    Church Ward, Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary
    For the Wards, Staff and Members of Four Quarters

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