For almost 30 years, Dylan Skolnick helped make Huntington, Long Island more than simply a place to live. He helped make it a community.

For generations of Long Islanders, the Cinema Arts Centre has been a place to discover films, meet filmmakers, engage in extraordinary conversations, make friends and experience something increasingly rare: a true independent cultural institution with a heart and a personality.

For Dylan, it was also home.

Dylan, in 2015, being interviewed at the Cinema Arts Centre garden.

The subject- silent film.

Dylan's parents- the founders of the Cinema Arts Centre- Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Sky

The Cinema Arts Centre was founded in 1973 by his parents, Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Sky. Dylan grew up with the Cinema and eventually devoted his own professional life to carrying forward what his family had begun.

Dylan with his mother, Charlotte Sky, during the Cinema Art Centre's early days.

For more than a quarter-century, he programmed films, welcomed filmmakers and audiences, built relationships throughout the independent-film community and became a familiar and beloved presence to thousands of people who walked through the Cinema's doors.

And then, suddenly, that chapter of his life ended.

On September 1, Dylan was dismissed from his longtime position at the Cinema Arts Centre.

The Cinema's Board has said that its decision resulted from what it believes was serious misconduct. Dylan has publicly disputed that characterization and has spoken about the circumstances surrounding his dismissal.

Those issues will continue to be addressed in the appropriate places.

This fundraiser is about something different.

It's about Dylan.

It's about what happens to a person when, after decades devoted to one institution, a paycheck suddenly stops.

It's about a mortgage, groceries, insurance, bills, you know- everyday expenses. Professional and legal costs can arise when a longtime employment ends unexpectedly.

And it's about giving Dylan something enormously valuable right now: time. Time to deal with what has happened. Time to protect himself and his interests. Time to determine what comes next, and time to do those things without the immediate financial pressure caused by sudden loss of a longtime job.

The reaction throughout Huntington and the nationwide film community has already demonstrated how much Dylan means to people.

Dylan addressing a Cinema Arts Centre audience.

Hundreds have gathered and spoken out. Thousands have signed a petition supporting him. Longtime Cinema members, programmers, filmmakers and others in the independent-film community have publicly expressed their support.

Now there is another way to help.

We are creating this fund so that the community Dylan has served for so many years can have the opportunity to serve and help him.

All funds raised through this campaign will go directly to Dylan to help provide financial stability during this period, including ordinary living expenses, immediate financial obligations and legal expenses arising from the circumstances surrounding the loss of his employment.

There is no institution or organization behind this fundraiser. It's simply people helping someone who has meant a great deal to this community.

Many of us have memories of Dylan standing in front of a Cinema Arts Centre screen- introducing a film, welcoming a guest, answering a question, recommending a film we'd never heard of, or simply greeting us in the lobby.

Those individual moments, multiplied across more than 25 years, became something much larger. They became part of the cultural life of Huntington, and of Long Island.

Now it's our turn to show up for Dylan.

Whatever you can contribute will help. And if you can't contribute financially, sharing this fundraiser with others who know Dylan, love independent film, or believe in supporting the people who make their communities special can be just as meaningful.

For decades, Dylan helped keep the lights on for independent film in Huntington, including during the challenging pandemic years when many other theaters on Long Island didn’t make it to the other side. Let's help keep the lights on for Dylan while he finds his way forward.

Dylan, with his parents- Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Sky, at a Cinema Arts Centre post-film reception.