By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

A local charity has found itself without a place to hold its a fundraising event that makes up 20 percent of its annual budget.

UpReach Therapeutic Riding Center has been told it can no longer host a regular Thursday night event at the Amoskeag Bingo Center in Manchester. The riding center charges $4 a head for an event that contributes $80,000 a year to the center’s $400,000 annual budget, said UpReach Executive Director Karen Kersting.

Officials from UpReach received a letter on June 9 from attorneys representing West Side Bingo stating they would not renew UpReach’s lease at the McGregor Street bingo hall, Kersting said.

The letter from attorney John P. Kacavas of Manchester did not site any reason for the termination, said Kersting.

Two other charitable organizations received similar letters in June, Kersting said.

Kacavas could not be reached to comment for this story.

Although Kersting could not speculate on why the lease was terminated, she said UpReach had negotiated a contract with West Side Bingo that went into effect May 1.

UpReach worked with an attorney to ensure that agreement was in compliance with the Pari-Mutuel Commission, the agency that regulates bingo under New Hampshire state statute.

UpReach will host its last event at the Amoskeag Bingo Hall on Thursday, Aug. 10.

Kersting said UpReach is uncertain regarding the availability of bingo halls in the area.

“That’s part of the fundraising conversations we’re having right now. And we’re doing this with the knowledge that there are two other charities also looking for places in the same market,” Kersting said.

Located on Paige Hill Road in Goffstown, UpReach Therapeutic riding center is a non-profit program that uses horse-centered therapy in patients’ physical and psychological development.