Rebuild Hi-Tor Moves Forward with Town Meetings

The next Rebuild Hi-Tor General Public meeting is August 14 in Orangetown.

Last week, the first of several general public meetings was held for the Rebuild Hi-Tor effort. Although it was on short notice, more than 50 people came out to learn more about what they could do to help build the new Hi-Tor facility.

Hi-Tor, Rockland County’s only animal shelter, is at risk of closing, so several members of the public teamed up with Hi-Tor to take the reins. Last month, Don Franchino revealed the that he’s spearheading, which is fundraise to build a  three times the size of the previous one. 

"This is a very emotional issue. This is county-wide," said Franchino. "I'm not criticizing the county for the building that's there. I want to move forward with a positive message with this fundraising effort."

Franchino plans to hit every town in Rockland; the next meeting is Orangetown on August 14. He also plans to ask each town to pass a resolution supporting the rebuild effort and talk to the towns about increasing how much of the budget is allocated to Hi-Tor. 

In an , Patch recapped some of the many fundraising ideas that were thrown around the meeting’s discussion.

One of the committees that was discussed last night was one specifically for youths. This committee would be a liaison between youth groups that wanted to help fundraise for the Rebuild Hi-Tor effort. Groups would include school groups, scouts, church groups, kids interested in fundraising for their bar mitzvah / bat mitzvah or communion.

The construction committee was also starting to sprout legs seeking those with professional skills and trades, electricians, plumbers, etc …

“If a concrete company is willing to come in and do the work for us for free, that would greatly lessen the amount we need to fundraise to build this new shelter,” said Franchino.

Flyers and information papers at the meeting were created and donated by . The website was created voluntarily by Tom Ossa of Rockland Web Design. Nanuet’s Priscilla Drobes is chairing the PR committee. 

The next Rebuild Hi-Tor General Public meeting is August 14 in Orangetown. Questions? Call 845-215-5020 or go to www.RebuildHiTor.org or email RebuildHiTor@gmail.com. The paver form is attached to this article.

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