Slow going for home fund drive

For more than a decade, the Veteran's Guest House has provided assistance to a number of families of veterans and now it is in need of assistance itself.

The 70-year-old house, run by the Veterans Hospital Foundation Inc., needs to be replaced to accommodate a growing number of veteran's families in need of a place to stay.

About $1 million is needed for the demolition and reconstruction.

But the foundation is having trouble raising the needed funds.

Rand Tanner, a financial advisor and retirement specialist at Morgan Stanley and president of the foundation, said he has received a few inquiries, but most people are interested in volunteering their time.

He said part of the problem with fund raising and attracting volunteers is that his foundation is not well known in the community.

"We're the best-kept secret in Reno," he said, "but I want to change that."

The house serves as a haven for families of former servicemen receiving treatment of the Veterans Hospital, who otherwise could not afford to stay in a hotel.

To jumpstart fundraising, the hospital foundation has enlisted the help of the Community Foundation of Western Nevada.

The foundation is an organization that helps to promote and support worthwhile community projects.

Executive Director Chris Akin said the foundation's role is to collect all kinds of contributions and convert them to cash.

A contributor, for example, can donate shares of stock or bonds or even personal property such as a car or piece of land.

The foundation then sells the stock or property and deposits the cash into the fund.

Meanwhile, the hospital foundation is bouncing around ideas to reduce the cost of the project.

One idea was the group considered was purchasing a lot near the existing guest home to build a new home there.

But that idea was scrapped when the owners of the property decided not to sell the land.

Tanner said that the hospital foundation would even entertain the idea of selling the old house and moving to another location where construction of a new house can begin.

In addition to money, Tanner said that the hospital foundation is still looking for project volunteers.

"We're looking for people's ideas and we're looking for board members," Tanner said.

"We have a need for expanded committees."