With a $53,000 roof repair looming over their heads, Carbon County Friends of Animals could really use a friend of their own.

CCFOA moved into the new facility December 2014. The facility, located at 77 W. 13th St., Jim Thorpe, is made up of two adjoining buildings.The building to the right of the entrance is in need of the immediate repair."We bought the building as is," board member Kimmy Mulik said. "We'd been looking for years but nothing had really worked out before. When we bought the building we heard that there were some roof issues."We had someone look, but it was hard to tell because there was snow on the building at the time."A make shift repair of flashing had been applied to the roof to help with the leaks but it's no longer holding up.The lower roof is actually made up of two roofs. When the original repairs were needed, the owner at the time had a new roof constructed over the old one. That method of repair is not an option, CCFOA instead will have to pay to have the roof completely taken off and redone before the winter deadline.CCFOA houses between 125-150 cats at a time, taking in over 800 cats per year."We cannot take any chances of the roof incurring more damage, we would have nowhere for the cats to go if something major would occur," Mulik said.Even though it is feline heavy, CCFOA assists in the rescues of neglected or abused animals. The volunteer staff includes an animal cruelty officer, Donna Crum, who investigates all cruelty or neglect in Carbon County.Crum can be reached at (610) 703-6558.The nonprofit shelter is completely run on donations, which is how the building was purchased and what is needed to be able to make the repairs.In addition to the complete reconstruction of the lower roof, the upper roof over the entry side of the building will require $14,000 worth of repairs in the next two to three years.To freshen up the fundraising, CCFOA will be creating a pick three lottery ticket to be sold by mid-September until mid-December."You can only raise so much money selling pies," Mulik said, noting that the next fundraising meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Sept. 14 at the shelter. The meeting is open anyone. "We need help."Any amount in cash or check can be donated through the mail or in person at the shelter with a note, attention: roof fund.A list of upcoming fundraisers can be found on the CCFOA Facebook page.CCFOA can also use rubber gloves, scoopable litter, Purina cat/kitten chow, and bleach and laundry/dish detergent to help with the day to day running of the shelter.These items can be taken directly to the shelter.