April 4, 2024

Dear Members and Friends of the Finnish Room Committee and Finlandia Foundation Pittsburgh (the Pittsburgh Finns), 

The Finnish Committee is maintaining an active social schedule while participating in the detailed design of the Finnish Nationality Room. 

We are planning a Vappu party on May 5 to celebrate May Day. We will send out further details to our email newsletter list. Also you can send us a message from the Contacts tab on this website to request information. We hope to see you at the party.​

We have participated in several social events during the past year.

In July of 2023 the Finnish Room Committee was present at FinnFest in Duluth, Minnesota. The five-day event engaged thousands of Finnish Americans as well as International Finns in political and social programs and a great deal of entertainment. It was an important year for the festival as Finland successfully joined NATO in 2023. The Finnish Room Committee sold Finnish hand made goods at the Tori, or market, and raised considerable funds for the construction project.

In November 2023 we held a traditional Finnish party, Pikkujoulu or “Little Christmas”, to anticipate Christmas. 

In March 2024 we participated in the Festival of the Egg, highlighting the role of the Easter Witch in Finland, for which young children dress up as Easter witches, wearing colorful old clothes and painting freckles on their faces. The little witches then go from door to door, bringing willow twigs decorated with colorful feathers and crepe paper as blessings to drive away evil spirits, in return for treats. Families reward the witches with sweets or small change.

We are working with personnel from Pitt and our architectural firm to develop detailed drawings which will then be used to construct the room. Construction has been moved to 2025 because there is so much construction in 2024 that Pitt cannot allow another classroom to be placed out of service. This will also give us time for more fundraising.

We'd like to thank all members, and those involved once again for their donations and their PATIENCE with the Finnish room project - a project decades in the making, passed on to new generations to come. 
 
We should not stop supporting our project and our group.  We are ALL now builders of our ROOM. Also, we need to keep our group going through yearly dues. 

If you haven’t paid dues or want to make a donation, you need to follow separate procedures for the two organizations we are members of—the Finlandia Foundation Pittsburgh Chapter and the University of Pittsburgh Finnish Room Committee.

Finlandia Foundation Pittsburgh:
Dues are $5 yearly. We also appreciate donations for office supplies, if you would like to add something extra to the $5. 
Make the check payable to “Finlandia Foundation Pittsburgh” and send it to “Sally Morton, 5250 Liberty Ave, Apt 447, Pittsburgh, PA 15224-2380.”
 
Finnish Room Committee:
Dues are $10 yearly. You can also include donations for the Finnish Room, since all monies sent to our Committee go into the same fund while we are building the room. 
By mail:
Make the check payable to “University of Pittsburgh” and in the memo write “Finnish Room”. Send it to “University of Pittsburgh, PO Box 640093, 
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-0093”.  
Online: 
This procedure is complicated at the moment but will become simpler once we have an established room. We tried it and it works!
Go to http://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu
Select the About button at the top left and then select Support the Nationality Rooms! --you will be sent to the page Donate to the Nationality Rooms. 
Cursor to the bottom of the page under the section General Funds and click the Finnish Room Construction link.  You will be sent to the University of Pittsburgh/Pitt Giving page. 
Fill in the gift amount. Click on Choose Area(s) to Support. You will be sent to the page Select Your Area(s) of Support. Scroll down to the bottom and select Other and click Continue. 
The University of Pittsburgh/Pitt Giving page will appear again only this time Please Enter a Description of Where to Direct This Donation will appear under Designations.
In the box below Please Enter a Description, type Finnish Construction Fund and continue filling in the form. 

Looking forward to spring and summer festivities.
 
From your officers: Karen Fix, Chair; Sally Morton, Treasurer; Gloria Nelson, Secretary