Jessie Streich-Kest Fund Earns $22,000 for Sean Casey Animal Rescue

In life, Jessie Streich-Kest was passionate about many things, but friends and family would tell you that animals irrefutably topped her list.  

Streich-Kest was 24-years-old when she was killed near her Ditmas Park home by a falling tree during Superstorm Sandy. Since then, a fund created in her honor raised $22,000, all of which has been donated to Sean Casey Animal Rescue.

"She would have been very happy," said her mother, Francine Streich, who presented Casey with the check in January. "She loved animals."

Casey, who recalls Streich-Kest as a frequent visitor and volunteer walker of the shelter's roughly 100 dogs, said while he is extremely grateful for the money, he has mixed emotions about its source.

"The money is a tremendous help," he said. "But nobody wants to get a donation because of something like that. It was a very sad and tragic event." 

Casey said he intends to use the money to pay off some of the $250,000 costs of building a new state-of-the-art shelter in Sunset Park, a cause he was certain Streich-Kest would have supported. 

"Jessie was a firm believer in always trying to improve the quality of life of animals," he said. "That was our goal with the new facility—to give them more room."

Streich-Kest's mother, Francine, said that once donations for Sean Casey hit the $20,000 mark, the fund was redirected to benefit the Bushwick School for Social Justice, where her daughter had taught 10th grade special education. 

That fund raised yet another $20,000, and will be offered in the form of $1,000 yearly scholarships to students who demonstrate particularly strong social ideals. 

Interesting in donating to the Jessie Streich-Kest Fund? Click here.