The independent 501c3 is dedicated to developing St. Michael’s as a heritage site and in support of its objective of becoming a hub for educational activities for the people of Mercer County and beyond. It would be nested under The David Brearley Heritage Foundation, whose mission will be to promote the Brearley Family Legacy through distribution of the Donald Scarinci’s biography, this broader goal will bring broader support, including assistance towards the maintenance and preservation of the facilities of Brearley’s Trenton church, his Allentown home and Lawrence birthplace. Besides helping tell the colonial history of David Brearley’s church (with its maintenance included in the mission), it would also provide scholarships (yearly or otherwise) for a law student with a specialty in Constitutional law, as well as senior year history student from Mercer County.
The first phase of St. Michael’s transformation will be to install signage telling the many stories of the church. This includes the creation of a small David Brearley exhibit in the Parish House entrance directly adjacent to David Brearley’s grave and a set of educational panels in the North plot. Most importantly, the site will utilize QR-codes as a way to access audio-visual 1st-person narratives of the people who have made made St. Michael’s what it is.
Organization of the Friends of Old St. Michael’s Trenton under the auspices of The David Brearley Heritage Foundation.
The 501c3 will act as the umbrella for the transformation of the St. Michael’s facility into a community educational hub promoting a knowledge of our shared past, New Jersey’s role in the U.S. Constitution, as well as a renewed faith in the role of religion in society.
Possible organizational plans would be to be staffed by a 10% part-time director/fundraiser ($10,000/y) and a full-time administrator ($50,000/y) who could provide tours on an as-needed basis. Group tours could be for a reasonably priced donation to the facility fund.