Dear UUFP Supporter,

It has been about one year since we concluded the UUFP Capital Campaign, and we wanted to bring you up to date with our efforts and the financial generosity we have been privileged to receive. You will recall that just as the pandemic struck, we voted to seek a new building which would better support us in pursuit of our long-term Mission. Thanks to your support, the Capital Campaign exceeded our expectations and collected promises of $1.2M with $596K already received.

You may not be aware of the subsequent additional contributions from the estate of Richard Hudgins who died in 2020. He was one of our original founding members, and his very generous estate plan added an additional $716K to the Capital Campaign fund and $294K to the Endowment Fund. In remembrance, we plan to further honor Richard’s many contributions once we are in the new building. Using the estate gifts of Cornell Burcher and Richard Hudgins, the UUFP was also able to pay off debts to the minister’s sabbatical fund and remaining loans for our previous office building purchase.

The Fellowship has engaged Bob Saunders, a realtor who specializes in churches, to help our real estate task force identify potential sites for our new church home. We are looking for a building of ~10,000 – 16,000 sqft that requires minimal renovation but is situated on enough land to allow for future expansion. This size property does not come on the market very often, and for the last few months, there have been very few indeed. The planning committee and real estate task force have looked at several properties but so far have not found any which are suitable. There are pictures of a few of the properties considered at the end of this letter. We have received enough Capital Campaign money to be able to make a down payment as soon as we identify the right property. Once our new home is secure, Bob will also assist us in selling our current property. The real estate market for churches of our current size is very active, and he expects our property to sell “right away.”

Thanks to the expanded Endowment, the Trustees were able to fund four proposals to LINK, NAACP, Virginia Peninsula FoodBank ($500 each) and to the UUFP Leadership Development Committee ($1500).

In the last few days you should have received updated information from our UUFP Treasurer, Jeanne Farthing, about your individual commitment to the Capital Campaign (to pay for the new building) and your Pledge (to pay the UUFP’s yearly operating budget).

We are grateful for your continuing enthusiasm and generosity, as together we watch our Vision become a reality.

Judy Remsberg, Capital Campaign Co-chair, Endowment Trustee and Finance Committee
Parker Stokes, Capital Campaign Co-chair and Planning Committee
Sandy Burkes-Campbell, Planning and Real Estate Taskforce

Pictures of a Few of the Properties Considered: