ITHACA, NY (607NewsNow) — A mortgage crunch at the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca is over. 

Dr. Warren Allmon, who is director of the Paleontological Research Institute, tells 607 News Now it was a storm in the making in the last couple of years, with the sudden loss of a major financial backer.

Allmon adds a $3 million mortgage was paid off in full last month with the help of roughly 2,300 donors.

In a post on PRI’s website, Dr. Allmon outlined some of the new donors that helped to pay of the hefty mortgage, including a 14-year-old from Horseheads:

“It wasn’t just adults who offered to help. Alex Howard, age 14, lives in Horseheads, NY, near Elmira. He has wanted to be a paleontologist for as long as he can remember. He and his mother Liz have been volunteers in the Museum of the Earth for the past year, since the family moved from Philadelphia. After he heard about PRI’s financial trouble, Alex wanted to do something about it. He put together a display board with information about PRI and showed it at an event put on by the Finger Lakes Gem, Mineral & Fossil Club in Corning on November 22. He solicited donations for PRI from attendees, and gave fossils from his own collection to each donor. His efforts raised more than $2,400.”

FULL INTERVIEW: Dr. Warren Allmon on 607 This Morning (formerly Ithaca’s Morning News)