Moore Free Care Clinic is seeking at least $250,000 in immediate donations or pledges from the community in order to complete and open its new facility in Southern Pines by early 2009.

According to Dr. Mark Wethington, the clinic's executive director, local fundraising efforts are critical to the project. The clinic has begun a capital campaign seeking cash donations to pay for renovation of the space. In-kind donations of goods, materials, and labor as well as medical and office equipment and furnishings are also being sought.

According to Wethington, members of the clinic's board have already personally pledged more than $10,000, and a series of "house-gatherings" are planned to raise the remaining funds.

"We are moving forward and should be pounding nails soon," Wethington said. "We're making the new facility a reality. We're gathering the construction materials and our fundraising efforts are under way."

Earlier this year, the clinic signed a 10-year lease for 3,000 square feet of space in the former Pride-Trimble warehouse in Southern Pines. The clinic will pay one dollar a year for the space, which it plans to convert into a state-of-the-art "one-stop" medical clinic.

Construction should begin by mid-October and will cost $295,250. Budget estimates include $242,550 for construction expenses and fees and an additional $52,700 for medical and office equipment and furnishings.

The clinic's current administrative office is located in a 600-square-foot space in the Moore County Health Department in Carthage. The clinic uses the health department's examination rooms and medical equipment and has only a few desks, chairs, and computers to call its own.

Designed to accommodate more patients, staff, and volunteers, the new space includes a reception area, waiting room, five exam rooms, laboratory, nurse's station, staff and development offices, break room, supply room, restrooms, and a multipurpose room for meetings and training.

The clinic's board of directors hopes that the community will help fill the need for furnishings, such as a conference table and chairs, desks and chairs, lamps, bookcases, shelving, and lighting fixtures, as well as additional computers, printers, and telephones. It also hopes that local medical clinics will contribute equipment.

"We cannot do this without the continuing generosity of Moore County," Wethington said. "The new facility will allow us to care for many more uninsured and limited-income persons in our county, and the gratitude of our patients is always part of the joy which flows from our labors."

Wethington asks that anyone with in-kind donations of materials, goods, or labor or contributions, contact him at 947-6550. Donations can be mailed to Moore Free Care Clinic, P.O. Box 161, Pinehurst, NC 28370.

For more information about Moore Free Care Clinic, visit www.moorefreecare.org.

Pinehurst writer Claudia Watson may be reached at cwatson87@nc.rr.com.