Shovels could be in the ground for Chatham-Kent’s new animal shelter by next spring.
The Friends of the New Animal Shelter has now surpassed the halfway point of the campaign, thanks to a $50,000 donation this week from the Howard J Rees Foundation.
While a new shelter will provide a much better space for homeless animals, Project Coordinator Lynn McGeachy-Schultz says it will also be a facility for the community as a whole.
“Students can have placements there, some of the local community groups can access that facility as a way of teaching and learning,” she explains. “Kids are learning to trust and to care, those things become possible and easy to do, and I think that’s a really great opportunity for the community.
McGeachy-Schultz says the committee hopes to have all of the money raised by the end of this year, and will begin the RFP process to find contractors for the Park Avenue East site as soon as possible.