Help the Pen & Pencil #raisetheroof and reopen

Philadelphia’s Pen & Pencil Club, the nation’s oldest press club in continuous operation, has survived the first 13 months of the pandemic thanks to support from our amazing members and generous friends. We look forward to reopening as soon as it is safe to do so, but we face a costly obstacle: One of the two vaulted wooden structures that hung from the ceiling in the main bar area partially collapsed in October, and despite efforts to stabilize it, collapsed further in January. These structures were installed long before the club bought the building, and it appears they were not adequately braced. Fortunately, no one was at the club when the collapses occurred, and both structures have since been completely removed. Unfortunately, we now need to construct a new ceiling in order to reopen, and we do not have the funds to do so right now. The fundraising goal is an estimate for what it will cost us to reopen. A vast majority is the price of redoing the ceiling, but it also includes smaller projects such as calibrating our ventilation system to meet COVID-era guidelines. Please chip in to help us #raisetheroof and get the P&P back open as soon as possible!