When the Rabbit Room board met in January of 2017, one of our primary goals was to decide the future of North Wind Manor. Since that initial meeting, nearly two years have passed and we’ve diligently undergone untold hours of prayer, discussion, anxiety, research, and consultation. We took a deep breath and went public with our hopes for the project in early October, announcing the plan to renovate the manor and build a permanent home for the Rabbit Room.
Prepared for a years-long fundraising campaign, we stepped out in faith, confident that the Lord had led us to the right decision. But anyone who’s taken a leap of faith has experienced the uncertainty and hand-wringing that goes along with it. We’re no different.
I know some of you are tired of seeing us talk about the project. I know some are weary of emails about fundraising. I know some might be concerned that the Rabbit Room seems to be asking for money a lot lately. Believe me when I say that we understand those concerns and share them. We’ve been wrestling with this project for two years now, even though it’s only been public for three months.
But as I sit here typing this post on the first day of 2019, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude as I consider what God has done through the Rabbit Room since that first announcement about the North Wind Manor project in October.
As of this writing, the Rabbit Room community has raised over $130,000 for the manor, mostly in small donations of $25-50 each. Thanks to our incredibly generous matching grant, that puts total funding for the project at over $260,000, well past halfway to our goal. But that’s not all. Thanks to other donations that we know are in process, we have maxed out our matching grant and in the next few weeks will see the grand total pushed to nearly $350,000! Amazing!
On top of that, we have officially acquired J. R. R. Tolkien’s fireplace, which will become a permanent fixture in the North Wind Manor library once the project is complete.
We hope to make some other exciting announcements in the coming weeks, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone that’s been involved. We couldn’t make this happen without you, all of you, and we can’t wait to welcome you to North Wind Manor one day soon.
So if we’ve come on strong lately, know that the fundraising work is nearing its end. We still have some funds to raise, but you’ll soon be able to look forward to actual updates on the building of the new facility. We’re looking forward to getting to work. We’ve got new Rabbit Room Press titles in the pipeline, a 10th Hutchmoot to convene (and maybe even a second one this year!), Local Shows to plan, podcasts to produce, and soon, an entire building to renovate.
Thank you for all your support. 2019 is going to be an amazing year.