St. Peter’s Community Resource Center in Weissport hosted a fundraiser Saturday afternoon in hopes of raising money to go toward a new roof for the old church building that closed its doors about six years ago, and has been operating for nearly three years as a community resource center.

Appropriately, the event was dubbed “Raise the Roof,” and the center’s quote from a contractor was upward of $25,000.

“Any little bit helps us and brings us closer to making the job more affordable,” said Tracy Hoffman, who serves as both secretary and treasurer to the center. Before the fundraiser Saturday, the center had secured $12,500 toward the roof.

Hoffman knew the history behind the building and revealed that the current roof is the original one since the church building’s construction, making the old and original slate roof nearly 126 years old.

“We’ve applied for grants only to be questioned how such grant money benefits the cause and the people who occupy the structure, which makes you scratch your head a bit,” Hoffman said. “Clearly, if we don’t have a roof, we can’t use the building.”

The objective is to help raise funds for a new roof so that the community can access resources in a building that is in good shape.

In a bit of a Catch-22 situation, grant money can be awarded when used for pantry items such as food and toiletries, however grants applicable to this sort of project are written in a way that only provides funds when the person applying for the grant can show proof on how the funds will be allocated toward helping people with needs, and do not detail specifically being distributed for such building repairs on their own such as a roof.

“Organizer Nicole Baker and I began planning this fundraiser only three weeks ago and were fortunate to have Gombert family amusements donate a dunk tank for the day. Franklin Township fire company donated water to fill the tank. We are thankful to both the Gombert family as well as fire company for donating and helping us out,” Hoffman said.

A drive-by dunk tank was advertised via Hoffman’s sign that she held up while waving and shouting to passers-by. Local leadership had volunteered their time Saturday by spending an hour each in the dunk tank. Volunteers included Lehighton elementary school Principal Aaron Sebelin, Carbon County Commissioner Chris Lukasevich, Lehighton school board Director Rita Spinelli, and Tony Pagotto, pastor of Dinkey Memorial Church in East Penn Township.

Nicole Baker sold tickets in the parking lot. After the event, $416 had been raised Saturday afternoon.