BY SANDI CARPELLO
Staff Writer
RED BANK — Give and you shall receive.
Well, at least in the case of the Red Bank Salvation Army.
Six years after launching its $4.6 million new facility campaign, the 80-year old Salvation Army branch is just a hair away from its goal.
Confident that the remaining dollars will be donated, the nonprofit organization was expected to break ground on its 172 Newman Springs Road facility at 11 a.m. yesterday.
"Over 3.9 million of the 4.6 million campaign goal has been raised, leaving only $600,000 in funding still necessary to complete the campaign and construction of the new facility," said Salvation Army spokeswoman Tammy Briggs. "We wanted to get a head start on the building while we continue to raise the rest of the funds."
The construction should be completed by Spring 2005, according to Briggs.
Roomier than the existing 12,000-square-foot 51-year-old office on Riverside Avenue, the new 27,000-square-foot facility will encompass a full-court gymnasium, locker rooms, sports leagues and will be available for use by other organizations.
Computer laboratories will be installed in the tutoring classrooms and a larger office space will provide an array of social services offering assistance with emergency rent and mortgage, utilities, food, and prescriptions.
"The new building will be larger and provide much improved public access," Briggs said. "But even more important, it will enable The Salvation Army to create new programs to meet a rapidly changing community need. After all these years, the needs of the greater Red Bank community are still present and have grown along with the population," Briggs said.
Since the building campaign’s 1998 inception, small individual donations along with heftier checks from the Red Bank Rotary Club and the Lions Club have been streaming into the organization’s mailbox.
Even students in the Red Bank school district lended a hand, offering their creativity to design the Red Bank Salvation Army’s new logo.
The Red Bank Corps of The Salvation Army was established in 1924 at Linden Place. The organization moved to its Riverside Drive office in 1952.
All gifts to the building fund can be sent to The Salvation Army, 20 Riverside Ave., Red Bank, N.J., 07701. Designate the Red Bank Building Fund.