During the event, which featured a presentation by Socialist Workers Party National Committee member Joel Britton, those present boosted the goal for the Seattle area by more than $5,800. Seattle supporters have set a fund-raising goal of $15,000, more than $11,000 of which has already been collected.

Britton is a chairperson of the 2004 Headquarters Building Appeal, along with Martín Koppel, Janice Prescott, and Arrin Hawkins.

“We are appealing to supporters to contribute $180,000. As the project has advanced, we decided to add new double-pane glass windows to the budget. Modern windows, which will cost $30,000 to purchase and install, will provide greater insulation for the new headquarters to make the heating and air conditioning more efficient. The windows will greatly reduce street noise and facilitate editorial work,” Britton said. “We will also have to rearrange the electric service, an expense we did not initially anticipate.”

A special committee monitors these expenses so the crew can stick to its budget.

“This is going to be a headquarters we can be proud of,” he said. “When you step off the elevator into the lobby area, the first thing you will see is a big seven-foot display window where Pathfinder titles will be featured. This will be your walkway into the Pathfinder bookstore.”

As of January 13, $171,500 has been pledged to the fund appeal with $74,100 collected. “We have gotten a tremendous response to this appeal, but the next two weeks are decisive,” said Britton. “We must collect the entire amount to keep to the tight construction schedule, and that will mean collecting $53,000 each week.”

Those attending the Seattle forum also heard a presentation from Dean Denton, who had just returned from a week on the construction crew at the new center in New York. A display with photos of the volunteers on the construction crew putting up the walls was one of the highlights of the program.

As the Militant goes to press, most of the walls have been framed throughout the new premises, and much of the sheetrock is up. Over the next week the volunteer crew will paint the ceilings and walls, lay tile in the entryway and kitchen area, and begin the carpeting of the bookstore. The plumbing for the bookstore area has also been started. When finished, there will be a complete kitchen as well as ample counter space to prepare meals during the day and for dinners prior to weekly Militant Labor Forums.

A cabinetmaker is donating his labor to make the kitchen cabinets. He will also fabricate bookshelves for the bookstore. These pieces of furniture will be driven to New York and assembled by the volunteer crew.

The construction crew includes about a dozen volunteers who have taken time off from their jobs around the country to put in a month or more of work on the project Other volunteers are coming in for a week or a weekend. The crew’s efforts have been bolstered by a few construction workers from Queens and Brooklyn coming in after work and on weekends. A worker involved in the fight of day laborers in Freehold, New Jersey, has joined the crew on his days off. Skilled workers are helping train volunteers with less experience on how to do the job right.

The crew members are participating in dinners and classes organized by the New York Headquarters branch. On January 10, a dinner and a class on Problems of Women’s Liberation by Evelyn Reed were attended by more than 20 people.

“We have learned many lessons from the project a year ago to construct temporary offices for the SWP national office and for the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial,” said Paul Mailhot, who is one of the organizers of the project. “We’re trying to have as skilled a crew as possible help lead volunteers with less experience in this work. Because of this, we are on schedule with the construction. The collection of the appeal by the end of the month is necessary for us to continue to work at this pace without any unforeseen delays.”

The collection at the Seattle forum was part of a several-days-long effort of intense fund-raising in that area. A number of meetings organized with potential contributors, with both Britton and Dave Prince from New York participating in many of them, boosted the effort already underway in that city. As a result of these discussions, five Seattle contributors have pledged amounts ranging between $1,000 and $2,500.

Britton noted the importance of these meetings with ample timed allowed. “I make a point of showing the souvenir program from the big public meeting held in New York on December 14 that launched the fund, highlighting the photo signature in it that was assembled for Rebelión Teamster that will make this book more accessible to workers today,” Britton said. The meetings also review the many steps over recent years that have been taken to get into the position where the political center being constructed in New York is now possible, he added.

“As SWP leaders organize to meet with supporters of the communist movement to win contributions to the appeal, it is important to involve younger leaders of our movement in these efforts,” Britton said, “because they provide an opportunity to get an education in the party’s rich continuity in class-struggle and party-building experiences.”

Fund chairperson Arrin Hawkins stressed in an interview the importance of reaching out to young people and co-workers for contributions. For many this will be the first time they have ever been involved in a discussion like this or made a contribution. “This will be their headquarters for a long time to come,” she added. A brief talk on the Appeal by Hawkins at a January 11 fund-raising dinner in New York yielded contributions totaling more than $1,000. The Saturday night event also included presentations by Olympia Newton and Argiris Malapanis on meetings of the World Federation of Democratic Youth they recently attended in Cyprus. (See article in this issue, “World youth festival to be held in Venezuela”.)

Janice Prescott, a fund chairperson from New York, told the Militant that she had “a number of individual discussions with party supporters around the country and in New York, both about the project overall and about financial contributions.” Prescott is a supporter of the Socialist Workers Party who is active in the Pathfinder Printing Project. “As a result of these discussions, several supporters have said they are considering increasing the pledges they made initially.

“They see this both as a vote of confidence in the party and as a recognition of the important role that party supporters are playing in the building of the communist movement,” she added. “In response to discussions about this being a combined headquarters for the local and national party, the Militant, the forums, and the bookstore, several people remembered favorably the headquarters the party had in the 1960s at 873 Broadway in New York,” said Prescott.

She posted a note on the Appeal on the database used by supporters of the Pathfinder Printing Project. “I gave an updated report on the work the construction volunteers were doing and the meals that New York volunteers are preparing for the crew members,” Prescott said. “I asked for recipes to feed a crowd of around 12 people. So far I’ve got a recipe for black beans and sausage with a side of collard greens, chicken tajine, several soups and stews, and a series of simple stir fries.”

Cecelia Jones in Seattle contributed to this article

See thermometer showing progress in appeal  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home