WILTON — Cabin fever and freezing temperatures make many of us eager for neighborhood indoor entertainment options for our young children. The Western Maine Play Museum is hoping to provide such a venue for area children by this time next winter, but the museum needs your support now to ensure the vision will become a reality.
The WMPM has made great strides toward their goal of opening their doors in 2015, and momentum and enthusiasm are growing in the community.
Most exciting is the fact that the Bill and Irene Berry family, through their Sandy River Charitable Foundation, has given the Western Maine Play Museum a $150,000 pledge, which must be matched by $350,000 in donations from other sources toward the renovation of the WMPM building in Wilton.
The museum greatly appreciates the Berry family’s faith in the goals and vision of this project, and hopes that the generosity of the Sandy River Charitable Foundation will inspire other potential donors to similarly commit to making the museum a reality this year.
The museum is also launching an appeal to the “10,000 Families” in western Maine who will most benefit from this emerging community resource: families with young children.
The WMPM has received encouraging support from some major donors; however, the families of average means are perhaps the most critical factor in the museum’s success. There are about 7,500 families in Franklin County, 15,000 in Oxford County, 14,000 families in Somerset County and 27,000 families in Androscoggin County, for a total of over 63,000 families, based on recent census data. If only a small percentage of these working families make a one-time donation of $25, more if they can afford it, the $250,000 the museum hopes to raise with this appeal would allow them to begin reconstruction work on their building.
Twenty-five dollars is the equivalent of a restaurant dinner for two, or a movie, with popcorn, even, for a family of four. Think of all the everyday things we spend that amount of money on, without even thinking much about it. But that same amount of money could be directed towards building a wonderful play and learning environment that children could enjoy for years.
The museum board members and volunteers have also launched a direct-mailing financial support appeal to over 3,000 area families. If you don’t receive one of their sunny yellow envelopes in the mail, know that your donations are still welcome. Contributions may be made through the museum website, www.westernmaineplay.org, or mailed directly to the museum: WMPM, PO Box 1161, Wilton, Maine 04294. Pledges are also welcome, in the event that a family would like to support the museum, but need to defer donating immediately, or need to donate in intervals over a period of time. For more information, contact Lori Lewis at 645-3945.
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