What It Costs to Keep The Vine Free

Everything at The Vine is completely free for students: hangouts, Bible studies, homework help, snacks, outings, and a meal at every gathering. That only happens because people give, so we want to be honest about what it actually costs to keep the door open. Here are the real numbers, month in and month out.

The Tuesday dinner is one of our biggest costs. We serve a home-cooked meal to everyone at our Tuesday Bible study, and the whole meal averages about $80. Think of it this way: one gift of $80 covers the dinner for an entire weekly gathering, start to finish.

Friday nights work differently. Louie's Pizza has donated the pizza for years, and we are grateful for their support. That partnership means a full meal on Fridays without touching the meal budget, and it is one of the reasons we can keep feeding students week after week.

We serve a meal every night we are open, about 50 weeks a year. At two nights a week that comes to about $4,000 a year for meals. If we get back to opening on Monday nights, a third night would bring the yearly meal cost to about $8,000.

Meals are only part of the picture. Between the lease, insurance, internet, and utilities, our monthly bills run about $3,300, every single month, whether the room holds 10 students or 15. On a typical night, 10 to 15 students walk through the door.

The Vine used to be open three nights a week. Because costs went up and giving has been down, we had to pull back to our current two nights, Tuesdays and Fridays. We would love to get the Monday night back, and gifts toward our current $10,000 campaign goal are what will bring it. Every gift, whatever its size, moves us closer to a full week of open doors.

Thank you for caring about the students of Colorado Springs. If a place like this is worth supporting, give online and help us bring Monday nights back.

The Vine is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 46-0910447). Your gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and you'll receive a receipt by email.