FAITH MISSION LAUNCHES CAPITAL CAMPAIGN FOR CANNERY CAMPUS PROJECT

  

Faith Mission’s annual Candlelit Christmas gala Thursday night served as a kickoff for the Advent season and a fundraising effort for a new project aimed at providing jobs and education for the community.

A crowd of nearly 700 people at Silver Wings Ballroom learned about Faith Mission’s plans for a cannery center, to be located adjacent to the Cannery Kitchen on East Alamo Street in Brenham. 

A capital campaign is underway for the facility, which is intended to be the site of a job training program where people can learn how to can goods and acquire other job skills.  The goods that are canned onsite will be sold to support the facility’s continued operations and employment opportunities. 

Faith Mission Executive Director Reverend Randy Wells says this will be a way for the organization to give back to the community in an even bigger fashion while continuing to provide “a hand up, not a hand-out.”

In addition, Rev. Wells says the cannery campus will be an opportunity to provide educational experiences.  He hopes to have informative kiosks telling the history of Brenham’s old community cannery, as well as viewing areas for visitors to see the items being canned. 

The capital campaign is off to a fast start, as Rev. Wells announced Thursday that Jim and Sandy Kite had contributed $250,000 towards the cannery project.  That is separate from what Thursday’s gala itself raised for Faith Mission – upwards of $150,000, according to Rev. Wells.  The project is expected to need between $2.5 million and $3 million total. 

Rev. Wells says a firm timeline for the project will come once more funding is dedicated.  He said if everything was already in place and set to begin, he would seek completion of the cannery campus in about a year’s time. 

Contributions can be made online at https://faithmission.us.