BY KELLIE HICKS
FOR GONZALES TRIBUNE
GONZALES — Gonzales Community Presbyterian Church has started a community fundraising event in an effort to beautify the grounds at the Segunda Vida Clothing Closet and the Una Mesa Food Pantry.
Church member Cindy Fellows explained about the need for change to the site.
Fellows said the corner lot where the Segunda Vida Clothing Closet and the Una Mesa Food Pantry are located, across the street from the community church, has sidewalks but the rest is dirt, no grass or cement. During the rainy seasons, the area is muddy, and for families with smaller children it is hard to keep everyone clean.
Many solutions have been discussed and considered — they even thought of pouring concrete — but while on vacation in New Orleans last year, Fellows had gone to the World War II museum. Walking up to the museum, she noticed bricks they walked on were inscribed with names of soldiers.
“I thought this was so cool,” she said. “You’re walking along and you can read all these names. They have it too in San Francisco, like at Giants Park where they have the same thing.”
Fellows continued, “They have all these bricks people have bought and they have names, and I thought that was the coolest thing. So when this project came along I thought what a good way to incorporate this idea into the project.”
The City of Gonzales helped by getting the ball running when the the church received a $5,000 grant from the city’s Measure K Community Action Grant Program. The grant gathers money from the community through a half-cent increase in local sales taxes, approved by voters. All money collected from the tax is used in the community toward improving access to and beautifying locations in the city, to make them more appealing.
Suggestions for bricks are “In honor of” or “In memory of,” but also they can be used for things like a 25th or 50th anniversary, or banner birthdays, quinceaneras, family names, pets or even as a gift for a wedding.
In designing the customized brick, there are three lines of text available with 15 to 20 spaces for text or spaces. Also available are dozens of different clipart that can be used on the brick for decorations. The art includes animals, spiritual symbols and many others.
The company that is producing the bricks for the site also has a mini-brick available to take home and keep as a keepsake of what the original brick looks like.
The goal is to raise $3,000 in brick sales to go with the $5,000 grant, but there is no limit in the amount of bricks that can be ordered.
“The original project that we put in with the city was the main area,” Fellows said, “but the more money we raise the more area we can do.”
Order forms are available at the church and at different places in the community, or go online to http://polarengraving.com/GonzalesCommunityPresbyterianChurch or contact a church member.
Make checks payable to the Gonzales Community Presbyterian Church and mail to P.O. Box 715, Gonzales, CA 93926.
