NORWICH – A $30,000 donation from an anonymous source has infused some much-needed cash into the coffers of a local grassroots organization committed to fighting the proposed NYRI powerline, but will it be enough?

“It’s a shot in the arm,” said Eve Ann Shwartz, co-chair of the group, Stop NYRI. While she and her colleagues say the amount will certainly help wage the legal battle against the high voltage transmission line project, they know, however, that more will be needed to see the fight to the end.

On Thursday night, the opposition group put out a call to local business leaders, asking them to step up their contributions to the cause.

“We’ve got to fight this to the end,” said Stop NYRI’s volunteer fundraising chair Susan Tallman, as she addressed members of the local business community in a meeting co-sponsored by her organization and Commerce Chenango. “Every dollar counts.”

To date, she said, Stop NYRI has received more financial support from private citizens than it has from businesses. The group’s current fundraising goal is to raise $46,000, or $1,000 per mile of the electric transmission line’s proposed route through Chenango and Madison counties. Thanks to the anonymous donation, they are well on their way to reaching that goal.