PORT HARDY— Pastor Kevin Martineau and the Port Hardy Baptist Church kept the momentum going from last weekend's garage sale in their effort to build a new church in Port Hardy.
Last week's multi-family indoor garage sale at the church exceeded expectations while raising $2,900 for the new structure.
"It was fantastic," said Martineau, "we got loads of stuff and we sold it all. My big, big target I was hoping to get was $2,000 so this was way past that. We're really blessed."
The funds are going towards finishing the structure being erected beside the current church on Highland Drive.
When completed, the new structure will house a church, all-purpose room, offices, a kitchen and more, with an expected capacity of close to three hundred.
That project got a further boost this weekend, when members of the Courtenay Baptist Church came up to pitch in with framing the interior walls — and with funding. "These guys have come up from Courtenay to help us out and they gave us a big donation too, $10,000," said Martineau.
The Pastor explained the project is being completed through volunteer work, and that many people have pitched in each Saturday to help.
"They all have Monday-to-Friday jobs, but they come here every Saturday."
With the amount of work left to do in the structure, Martineau was unsure of a completion date for the project, at first saying that it would be nice to be finished by Christmas, but hedging his bets a little and suggesting that early next spring would be a reasonable expectation.
The church is still collecting donations towards the project, with Martineau giving a "guesstimate" of $50,000 still needed to finish the building.
For more information on the new church, or to donate time or funds, contact Pastor Kevin Martineau at 250-949-6844.