Those who look to do a good turn for the environment on Earth Hour on March 23 can also do a good turn for the community.
Through a new Fortis BC online promotion, people who choose to switch off their lights and electronics at 8:30 p.m. can pledge their effort toward a charity of their choice.
The pledge acts as a vote for one of eight worthwhile projects, including one in Trail at St. Andrews Anglican Church.
The church is looking to add another facet to their ongoing renovations with an energy efficient new double door to its downstairs hall. And by voting for its project (fortisbc.com/earthhour) you can help the church realize its effort.
The doors are very battered, 50-year-old uninsulated doors, said church member Jennifer Sirges. “We want doors that don’t look like back alley doors,” she said. “We want to have something much more welcoming off the sidewalk.”
And is an energy efficient upgrade, a requirement of the charity projects. The amount to replace the doors is exactly the amount the church could win in the challenge: $4,000.
The church congregation fundraised around $50,000 for the renovations and, with a few grants, were able to have the hall painted, the flooring refurbished, and renovated its washrooms into three pristine lavatories.
Sirges said the hall fits well into the city’s downtown revitalization plan, and saw its future uses as a centre for plays, music, coffee houses and other community events.
“We want to say to the public, ‘Come and use this.’ You don’t have to be affiliated with the church,” she said.
Church canon Neil Elliot said the church is undertaking the renovation to make the hall—now called Iona Hall—a unique facility within Trail: a small hall with the technology that people need to hold a variety of events. The hall will sport a public address system, an overhead projector, and eventually a new lighting system.
“From what I understand there isn’t this kind of facility in Trail, a mid sized hall,” he said. “We’ve got bigger places and smaller places, but nothing this size.”