Two Coupeville business groups are partnering in a new campaign to help raise money for repairs to Coupeville Wharf.
Pennies for Preservation launches this month and will feature collection jars around the community hoping to catch shoppers’ spare change.
“We realize the Port of Coupeville is doing what they can,” said Vickie Chambers, executive director of the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association. “We really wanted us Coupevillians to help the wharf.”
The goal is to collect one-and-a-half million pennies to pay for a specific project on the wharf.
“I think it’s a unique and fun way to raise money,” Chambers said. “It’s a great way to educate people and bring attention to the needs at the wharf.”
The first project they hope to fund is repairing and replacing siding and painting the wharf. That project is estimated to cost $17,000.
The idea was the brainchild of Chambers, found in a magazine she was reading last fall.
“It was the perfect answer for what we were looking for,” said Lynda Eccles, executive director of the Coupeville Chamber.
Eccles, Chambers and other community members had been looking for ideas on ways to help the port and its tight budget constraints.
Jars will start going out this month to various businesses. Chambers, Eccles and another partner, Mark Saia, are looking for a group of volunteers to help distribute the jars and collect the funds.
Progress posters will also be created to show how the fundraising process is going.
“The fun thing about it is watching it grow,” Chambers said.
Pennies for Preservation will be an ongoing project and the group hopes to be able to fund other projects in the future.
Officials from the Port of Coupeville are 100 percent supportive of the project, Chambers said.
Former executive director Tim McDonald said any funds collected could be used as matching for a Heritage Preservation Grant the port is trying to acquire.
Due to tight budget constraints, the port is continually looking for grant and other funding opportunities to help offset the cost of repairs to the two historic structures it owns — the wharf and Greenbank Farm.
“The wharf is an icon,” Eccles said. “People come here for the wharf. We want to preserve our wharf for everyone to enjoy.”
