UPDATE: We’ve still got great news – we are 90% finished with our Phase I campaign to raise $1,646,000 to renovate the Union Project! When the remaining funds are pledged, Union Station (the café partnership with Peabody High School Culinary Arts Academy students) construction can be completed within weeks, and the café will open this fall! Go to www.unionproject.org to check out construction already completed on the renovated offices, studios and meeting rooms that will be open in September.   HELP! Oliver and Brad Siemens are asking you to join up in our inaugural membership campaign with a tax-deductible donation. Our goal is to raise $34,000 during the month of August through this e-campaign and individual pledges! Please donate online now at www.unionproject.org.   Become a member at one of the following levels!   1. $100 (or $9 a month for a year OR 100 hours of volunteer labor) sponsors a Union Station mug – your name or loved one’s name stamped on mugs to be used in the café; benefits include: 10 free cups of coffee, 10% discount on stained glass class, Union Project bumper sticker, invitation to annual membership event   2. $250 (or $21 a month) sponsors a Union Station chair   - you can come decorate the chair or have it designed by youth artists; benefits include: 25 free cups of coffee, 20% discount on stained glass class, Union Project bumper sticker, choice of Union Project t-shirt or mug, invitation to annual membership event   3. $500 ($42 a month) sponsors a Union Station table – you can come decorate the table or have it designed by youth artists; Benefits include: 50 free cups of coffee, 25% discount on board room or sanctuary rental, Union Project bumper sticker, choice of Union Project t-shirt or mug, handmade stained glass Christmas ornament, invitation to annual membership event   Your gift will: - Complete the capital campaign and build Union Station - Provide employment and training opportunities for youth - Create a neighborhood gathering space and recreate a strong, diverse community - Support the growth and sale of fair trade coffee - Celebrate local artists whose work will be on display and for sale at the café - Add vibrancy and safety to our neighborhood   Please donate online now at www.unionproject.org.   Hehwo, My name is Oliver Siemens (check out the attachment for a picture of me), and I officially became the Union Project’s youngest volunteer on July 9, when I was 30 days old. My dad, Brad Siemens, has been the Union Project board chair (I dunno what that means, but it sounds kinda important) for three years. When I volunteered, it just seemed like he was trying to get as dirty and sweaty as possible by sweeping, hauling trash and painting stuff. He says there’s some higher purpose to it all—something about providing a community resource, encouraging the arts, revitalizing city neighborhoods, bringing people together in celebration. I may be small, but I know that this is a big dream for a lot of people in the community. By the time I start crawling, I hope there will be a clean, safe floor for my little hands & knees! Not to mention for the great big feet of the hundreds of us that will come to the Union Project for coffee, art classes, meetings, celebrations and performances for years to come. Please join the Union Project’s initial membership campaign right now and help us reach our goals!”   CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Did you know that August marks the 4th Anniversary of the Union Project? – the month when young, enthusiastic and idealistic Pittsburghers came together to purchase the former Union Baptist Church and dream of it’s creative reuse.   Please help the Union Project meet its goal by donating online at www.unionproject.org. _______________________________________________ update mailing list update@unionproject.org http://unionproject.mennonite.net/mailman/listinfo/update.unionproject