About three months in, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church’s capital campaign has hit six digits. As of Aug. 28, about $130,000 had been raised toward the original, $250,000 goal, Fundraising Committee Chair Richard Malaby said. He told Wiscasset Newspaper the church might need to bump up that goal some, since one of the to-do items, painting the outside, came to more  than projected. The paint job was donated, amounting to about $70,000, but the other to do’s, including work on the building’s foundation, would, combined with the $70,000 paint job, likely exceed $250,000, Malaby explained.

“Do we need to up it? Yes,” he said. He wasn’t sure how much, in part because the church did not yet have estimates on the foundation work.

He said the paint job needed doing, plus it helped the 202-year-old building fit with its historic neighborhood, and can help show would-be donors the church is on the upswing. Looks are part of marketing, he noted. So the church is also working on updating the letterhead. Part of fundraising is  “dress for success ... Sometimes it takes a little money to make money,” Malaby said. A couple cocktails parties might be held, he said. 

Sharman Ballantine, who serves on the capital campaign and on the church’s outreach services, said “the new paint job gave us hope for the future.”

Ballantine said Aug. 28, “St. Philip’s candles burn brightly every Sunday giving us the courage and energy to serve our Wiscasset community during the week at the (Help Yourself Shelf) pantry and (Bargain Basement) thrift store. The fundraising achievements thus far mean so much to all of us – having the church sanctuary preserved is critical,” she added.

Discussing the foundation’s needs, Malaby said the basement has had leaks and a lot of moisture issues, and the beams are not in good shape; many will have to be replaced or augmented, and some concrete will have to be poured.

“It’s not going to be cheap,” he said.

Asked about any hurdles the group has encountered, Malaby said one was the campaign’s summertime start. People are away or busy; and a mailing was put off, to avoid competing with one of the church’s causes, Feed Our Scholars and its Set for Success program, when funds and volunteers were needed for that.

Ballantine, Seaver Leslie, Gretchen Burleigh-Johnson, Terry Heller, Susan Gallagher, Jon Young and Tim Cowing make up the core group on the campaign, Malaby said. With plenty left to raise, and fundraising taking both time and knowing people to approach for donations, Malaby said the effort could use more people; they do not have to be St. Philip’s members.

To volunteer or to donate, contact St. Philip’s at 882-7184, or send a check to St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 12 Hodge St., Wiscasset, ME 04578. Malaby said to specify if the donation is to the sanctuary or to operations.