The fundraising efforts to collect $1.13 million for construction of the Greene County Animal Facility has hit a milestone.

Greene County Animal Facility committee member Don Orris says they’ve recently collected half of their needed funds. The organization received a $34,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to purchase equipment for the inside of the building. He thanks Sue Richardson, who wrote the grant, and he encourages more donations to be made because the USDA grant has a time limit for when the funds can be used.

“It’s really important that they realize that now is the time to give, now is the time to make it happen. Certain people have just, as we all do, put things off that we don’t think there’s a big rush about. But now we really need to have this happen.”

The facility will be located south of American Athletic Incorporated in Jefferson, with land donated by Greene County Development Corporation. The building project will be funded entirely by donations and grants, without any taxpayer dollars. Orris says people can make one time donations and three year pledges. He describes one major opportunity for a donation.

“The largest, single donor will get the rights to name the building after them. So that is out there and we need that larger donor, and we hope we can get that.”

Orris adds, committee members Beth Vander Wilt and Mary Weaver have applied for several other grants that they are waiting to hear the results of. Donations can be made to Jefferson City Hall and checks made payable to the Greene County Animal Facility.