Fostering community: SVA Church raises funds for major construction project

Published 3:24 pm Monday, September 8, 2014

Snoqualmie Valley Alliance (SVA) church has raised $2.4 million for an interactive community building for Snoqualmie Valley youth and families.

Through the church’s All In campaign, it raised funds for construction of a  complex with an amphitheater, athletic training facility, classrooms and a commercial kitchen on SVA’s Spring Glen campus. Additional classrooms and administrative offices are also planned.

The intended purpose of the remodel is to create a venue for community-fostering activities like arts, and to provide food for natural disaster relief and for the homeless via SVA’s urban missions, and to provide a space for events such as weddings and memorials.

“Families are in need of wisdom to help their kids navigate in a rapidly changing world,” said the Rev. Monty Wright, lead pastor at SVA, about the intent of creating a space specifically for youth and families. “We need to be poised to help meet the needs of the poor and hungry around us.”

SVA’s service commitments include providing low-income children with sandals for the summer, providing meeting space for youth wrestling and Boy Scouts, or cleaning local schools before classes start.

Currently, the church is in the planning phase of construction with a contractor. It is also awaiting approval from King County to widen the footprint of the gym building.

Half the funds raised were from an anonymous donor, who offered to match whatever the church raised, up to $1.5 million. This offer inspired the creation of the All In campaign (svaonline.org/all-in), launched in March.