Bell Gardens : Card Casino Pledges $50,000 for Church Building Fund
A sputtering fund-raising drive to build a new and larger Roman Catholic church in Bell Gardens received a shot in the arm recently when the Bicycle Club card casino pledged $50,000 toward construction.
St. Gertrude Catholic Church, which serves about 4,000 families in the Bell Gardens area, is to be replaced. The church now can hold only 350 parishioners and is constantly overcrowded, Father Henry Gomez said.
“We have people standing at the doors, standing in the streets,” Gomez said. “There is no two ways about it. We need a church.”
The new church, which will be built next to the existing building, is expected to accommodate about 1,000 people.
In 1988, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to help foot the bill for the $2.5-million construction cost, provided parishioners raise about half that amount. Gomez said that so far he has received pledges for $1.2 million, but has received only $200,000. The Bicycle Club has paid $10,000, and has pledged to donate $40,000 over the next four years.
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