June 26, 2009
On Friday, June 19th, Western Theological Seminary suffered significant flooding when a major storm driven by 60 mph winds settled over west Michigan, deluging the area with over 8 inches of rain within a few short hours.
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The Garden Level of the DeWitt Theological Center caught the brunt of the flooding with over three feet of standing water. The Garden Level houses classrooms and conference rooms, faculty and staff offices for Journey (continuing education), bookstore storage, and computer, telephone and mechanical systems. Other areas of the seminary building were also affected with ceiling cave-ins and water damage.
As if the devastation itself wasn’t enough, we were greatly disheartened to learn that the damage is not covered by our insurance. Early clean-up and repair estimates suggest it will cost roughly $300,000 to get us back to full operation, and more yet to address the problems that partially led to the flooding in the first place. Having already weathered a financial storm in the economy these past months, we simply don’t have money in the budget for this. In fact, we had already made deep cuts across the board to make a balanced budget for the coming year. This unexpected emergency places a significant burden on our existing resources, yet we had to begin cleanup and repair work immediately so the seminary can be fully operational before the fall semester begins.
And so, I am asking for your help in this time of extraordinary need. Will you consider giving a special gift to Western to help cover the costs of the flood damage? A gift of any size will be such an encouragement to the staff and faculty members whose offices were devastated, to our maintenance staff working round-the-clock to deal with the awful mess, and to the entire seminary community.
Thank you for your prayers and consideration of our need.
Ken Neevel, Vice President of Advancement and Communications