HUDSON HEIGHTS — Alumnae, parents and supporters are not letting Mother Cabrini High School close without a fight, raising tens of thousands of dollars in just a few days in a bid to keep the beloved all-girls Catholic school open.
Cabrini supporters launched an Indiegogo campaign Saturday to stave off the planned closure of the school, raising more than $22,000 in the two days since.
"We're not just asking for help and not doing anything about it," said Yaritza Rivera, a spokeswoman for the group of supporters, who are calling themselves The Cabrini Movement. "We're being proactive because we don't have any time to wait."
Cabrini High School announced last week that it would close in June after 115 years, catching students, parents and graduates by surprise. Since the announcement, the community has come together on Facebook and Twitter to discuss plans to prevent the closing.
Mother Cabrini President Bruce Segall told parents and alumnae during a Friday night meeting that the school needed to raise around $7 million in order to stay open, with $3 million needed urgently, Rivera said. A spokesman for the school confirmed those numbers to DNAinfo Monday.
The group is hoping to raise $100,000 by Feb. 17, and then they're praying that their efforts can draw attention from a philanthropic groups or larger-scale donors.
"Seven million dollars is a tall order," said Rivera, a 2002 Cabrini graduate. "But we're hoping for a miracle."
Should the group fail to meet its goal, all money will be turned to scholarships to help existing students transfer to new schools, they said.
