Mount Paran Raises $16.5M for Arts Center

Mount Paran Christian School has more than 16.5 million reasons to celebrate.

After five years, the Kennesaw school met its fundraising goal to purchase the Murray Arts Center at the corner of Stilesboro and Stanley roads.

Mount Paran made the announcement on the school's website.

"It took gifts of all sizes to get us to this point and each one was important," school officials wrote in a statement on the site.

The biggest gift—$10 million—came in late 2007 in the form of a grant from the Stuart and Eulene Murray Foundation.

An anonymous Atlanta foundation challenged Mount Paran to raise $5 million of the remaining $6.5 million by Dec. 31, 2012, according to a story in today's Marietta Daily Journal.

By New Year's Eve, $16,562,291 had been raised, more than enough to secure the $1.5 million challenge grant from the anonymous donor.

"We have proven to ourselves and the foundation community, that we are passionate about our school," school officials wrote on the website. "It simply cannot be overstated how this success will impact our school for many years to come as we seek God's very best for these students."

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