Dear VCCA Fellows and Friends,
By now you’ve heard the news that the Board of Directors voted to close VCCA to Fellows until May 1 and to delay the season opening of the Moulin à Nef to June 1. This is a sad but necessary step as we do our best to keep all Fellows and staff safe and to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Our plan is to continue paying all of our staff during the closure; to accomplish this, we will need additional support from our friends and Fellows. VCCA pays for its annual expenses of $1.2 million as follows: approximately 60% contributed income; 30% residency payments from Fellows; and 10% interest from our small endowment. Because we will not receive residency payments during our closure, we will experience a net loss of income of $5,000 per week in Virginia and $1,250 per week in France.
When the board decided on March 15 to temporarily close, I made a personal pledge to pay for one week of lost income in Virginia. I am very gratified that eleven board members joined me to help support our operations in Virginia and France for several weeks. We are now turning to our larger community of Fellows and friends to help us.
Please consider joining the board and me as we work to ensure that VCCA remains on sound financial footing through this unprecedented closure. The button below provides a convenient way to do this. As you know, VCCA is a 501(c)(3) public charity, and donations are tax-deductible.
Best regards,
Kevin
Kevin O’Halloran
Executive Director
