WATCH FOR PROGRESS AT SHELTER SITE
$2M DOWN, $1M TO GO
By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
INDEX – So far, 100 individual contributions have been made to the new Susquehanna Animal Shelter, and more of the kind is needed to reach the new fundraising goal of $3 million, according to SSPCA Executive Director Stacie Hayes.
"It's the individuals we have to count on," said Haynes in the afterglow of Saturday, Aug. 24's upbeat groundbreaking ceremony on the site across Route 28 from Kevin's Ford. "That's a good thing when people make individual contributions. It's their shelter. It's the people's shelter."
At the groundbreaking, Anita Vitullo of Clinton, Staffworks president and a donor to animal causes, announced her $250,000 matching grant has been met by donations, netting $500,000 toward achieving the $2 million mark.
With that mark met, and a new goal of $3 million set, SSPCA board chair Gaylord Dillingham has set an easy-to-remember deadline to complete the fund drive: Christmas Day 2019.
Because of the need to lock in the prospective shelter's design and meet construction deadlines, "by Christmas, the first of the year, we have to have it kind of nailed down," said Dillingham.
Some key donations are still expected, he said, but he's unsure how large they will be. The Scriven Foundation, which focuses its philanthropy within Otsego County, has also been approached.
