Hope College submits application with $224,000 in pledges

    Who would have guessed that in just 35 days Hope College would be approaching its fundraising goal?     Those working on founding the post secondary institution were pretty optimistic.
    Hope College initiated its fundraising drive just over a month ago in hopes of raising $300,000 for the college to become a reality. As of Wednesday, they are standing at $224,000 including sizable donations from EnCana, The Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce and Cuts 4 Cancer.
    “We’re ecstatic. We are very happy and overwhelmed with the support we received from the community,” said Jordan Webber of Community Futures Big Country. “The truth is we have asked lots of businesses, big or small, to date. We have had a warm reception from every one.”
    He adds they are still waiting to hear back from many of the businesses.
    “They are really excited they could help the college come to Drumheller,” said Webber.
    He explains they have been working on raising $300,000 of private pledges, spaced over three years, with a deadline of April 10 to accompany their application to the Rural Alberta Development Fund.
    The RADF is a matching grant program. It requires Hope College to demonstrate strong local support by securing at least 25 per cent of the funds from local sources.
    As of Wednesday, they have submitted their application, with the named supporters and the total pledge amount. He said they will review the application and Hope College will update the total with RADF before the deadline.
    They have applied for a grant of $1.1 million. Webber expects they will here back from the government by April 30.