The Pender Development Fund
P. O. Box 1058
Burgaw, NC 28425
Links:
Religious Programs at Pender Correctional Institution
"Remember those in prison as if
you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you
yourselves were suffering."
Hebrews 13:3
The Process
Beginning in 2006 The Community Resource Council recognized the need for a Religious Services Center and committed to build it. Because state law mandates that CRC form a non-profit corporation in order to undertake a project involving raising this money, the CRC formed the Pender Development Fund, to provide financial accountability for the process.
The CRC located an architect, Don Cash of Charlotte, who donated his skill to design the building. The design was then submitted to the Central Engineering Department of the Division of Prisons and approved by them and ultimately by the State Building Office. While all this was going on the Pender Development Fund enlisted the North Carolina Baptist Men, who agreed to be responsible for enlisting men with construction expertise to donate the labor to build the building. The PDF also set out to raise the approximately $225,000 needed for the materials.
In November of 2011, the PDF received word that construction had been approved and that the lease on the land was being written. At present, the PDF is planning a groundbreaking ceremony as soon as the lease is signed, with construction to begin possible as early as January, 2012.