Shelter Dedicates Addition to Late Contractor

Matthew Sherman never got to see the finished product of his labor of love. The contractor who ‘rescued the rescuers’ from a shoddy construction job passed away on July 24 of this year, but not before leaving behind a legacy that dozens gathered to honor on Thursday night, September 7.

The owners of the Rochester-based cat shelter It’s All About the Animals hosted a cocktail party to celebrate the grand unveiling of the new addition and “catio” (a screened-in patio for cats) at the Marion Road rescue cat shelter. Pam and Oren Robinson held the invitation-only event as a way to thank those benefactors and volunteers who made it possible, and to honor a special man, Sherman, of Sherman Construction, who loved cats and eventually took over the management and construction of the new addition after the prior contractor allegedly ran off with the Robinsons’ money and left behind an unfinished and unsafe work site.

On the wall of the new wing at the shelter is a plaque dedicating in Sherman’s name the new addition space now used for housing and caring for rescue cats and kittens. Sherman, age 39, died unexpectedly before finishing the construction.

“He was such a wonderful man,” Pam said. “None of this would have happened without him.

Invited guests joined the Robinsons in raising their glasses and toasting the memory of Sherman, whose parents, Craig and Christina, were present to uncover Sherman’s plaque and celebrate his life, along with the shelter’s fortunate conclusion to a cat-astrophic construction calamity – for which Pam Robinson says was all due to Sherman’s generosity and kindness.

The catio features another plaque dedicating it to the memory of Georgia D. Chamberlain, donated by her daughter Ester-Ann Chamberlain.

In addition to the space – which includes a coffee station for volunteers, a kitchen area, and a laundry room, the cats and kittens enjoy a series of brand new cat trees, kitty condos, and cubbyholes to hide in (although several enjoy the simple surroundings of the small eaves in the catio ceiling).

Pam says she has a number of kittens available for adoption, as well as a number of adult cats in need of good homes. And if you do visit the shelter on Saturday or Sunday during business hours, we dare you to leave without an application.

(And IAATA, we think you may have a great new fundraising concept to exploit – sipping wine while petting a kitten in a roomful of wandering cats? Please take our money…)

By Jean Perry

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