Category Archives: Charity

THANK YOU! (was: URGENT Call For Help!)

by Amy Posted on 22 November 2011

November 23, 2011 – I’m updating this post to sincerely THANK ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND READERS who voted for FCWR in the recent Chase Community Giving Campaign on Facebook which ended Tuesday, November 22nd. The vote was close at the end and FCWR got a huge push of support when they really needed it! In the final ranking they ended up at #77 and will receive much-needed funding of $25,000. Thank you, thank you, thank you! – Amy

Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation is participating in the Chase Community Giving Campaign on Facebook which ends in just under two hours. Charities in the top 100 at the end of voting will receive $25,000 of funding, but FCWR has slipped out of the top 100. Please take just a moment to help the animals and vote for Flint Creek in this campaign. When you vote, the button says “VOTE AND SHARE” but you are NOT required to share anything on your Facebook wall. Please vote, please share, please help the animals.

This post originally appeared on Birdorable

If you’re on Facebook or you know someone who is, please consider supporting our favorite wildlife rehabber, Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, with a vote in the Chase Community Giving Campaign. Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation is a private, not-for-profit organization in the Chicago area treating over 3,400 animals annually! The vote is completely free and gives Flint Creek the chance to get funding from $25,000 to $250,000, depending on where they end up in the final vote.

Voting just takes a moment!
Visit the Chase Community Giving application and vote for FCWR!

Vote Now

Flint Creek recently released a pair of orphaned Bald Eagles back to the wild after raising them to independence so be sure to check out their Facebook page and look for photos of that fantastic event.

Some of you may know that we (Arthur and Amy) volunteered with FCWR and that this all-volunteer wildlife rescue organization means a lot to both of us. Your support would be greatly appreciated and remember, it doesn’t cost anything! Please vote if you’re on Facebook and share the word with your family and friends, too. Voting ends November 22nd.

For more information about Flint Creek check out their website or Facebook page.

Thank you!

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Posted in Charity, Conservation, FCWR | 2 Comments

Upcoming Local Events

by Amy Posted on 17 January 2011

I want to let my readers know about a couple of interesting local events that are coming up. One is this week and the other is in March.

Profiles of Nature Exhibit & Fundraiser

Local photographer Jerry Goldner will be having a photo exhibit at the Whole Foods in Deerfield. The event, which takes place on Thursday, January 20th from 6pm to 9pm, benefits Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation. The exhibit of Jerry’s fine wildlife photography will include wine and snacks provided by Whole Foods. Education birds from Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation will also be in attendance. UPDATE 20-JAN-11: Due to predicted extreme cold & windchill, education birds will not be in attendance at this event. The photo exhibit will take place as scheduled. A $10 minimum donation is requested for this event. RSVP on the FCWR Facebook page or by contacting FCWR directly.

http://www.facebook.com/jerry.goldner?ref=profile&pub=2305272732#!/event.php?eid=177321112288960

Wild Things coming to Chicago

The fourth biennial Wild Things conference is coming to Chicago this March 5th. Attendees have a huge selection of workshops, lectures and panels from which to choose. From the official website:

Wild Things will feature the region’s best conservationists in a variety of large and small-group sessions drawn from real-life experiences with everything from the nitty gritty of habitat management, botany, and zoology to advocacy, education, art, culture, history and back yard and neighborhood ecology. This will be a great day for anyone who likes nature, conservation, gardening, restoration or who cares about the environment.

The day will kick off with a keynote speech by Curt Meine: “The Legacy of Aldo Leopold in the Chicago Region.” Six breakout sessions follow, with 10 or more different choices for each session.

A variety of topics are covered, from community gardening to land stewardship to effective environmental lobbying. There are plenty of sessions to keep keen birders interested. I’ll be attending “Breeding Birds of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie,” “Why do yellow-breasted chats sing at night?,” and others.

Register for the conference by the early bird deadline (the reason for this early blog post) of January 30th and pay just $28 per attendee. After that, the regular registration fee is $40. The conference will take place at the Student Center East at the U of I at Chicago. See the Wild Things website for more details.

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Posted in Charity, FCWR, Festivals & Events | Leave a comment

The birds need us! Helping is EASY!

by Amy Posted on 6 December 2010

There are so many worthwhile projects, organizations and initiatives set up to help birds. Non-profits working with wildlife are always in need of funding. Here are two really easy – and totally free – ways that you can help a couple of important bird conservation initiatives.

OM class of 2010
Operation Migration’s class of 2010 Whooping Cranes fly over Winnebago County, Illinois

Help Operation Migration: vote daily

You can help Operation Migration receive a $25,000 grant from Pepsi by voting for OM every day until the end of the year. The grant will be awarded to the two top projects; as of this writing OM was in 10th place (up from 72nd at the start of voting). Voting is easy! Visit the Operation Migration project page, and click on Vote for this idea. The first time you do this, you’ll have to register, which takes about 30 seconds. Then, return to the Operation Migration project page every day until December 31st to place your daily vote. You’ll have to enter your email address and password in each day, but it only takes a few seconds and your vote could be the one that pushes OM over the top! I have the page in my startup Firefox folder so I don’t forget to vote every day.

Help Spoon-billed Sandpipers: vote weeky

You can help save the Spoon-billed Sandpiper by voting in the Saving Spoony’s Chinese Wetlands campaign. BirdLife International is working to save the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper, which may be down to just 400 birds. The project is set to receive $25,000 from Disney’s Friends for Change initiative, which is fantastic. But the project has the chance to receive up to $100,000 from the Disney initiative, if they get the votes. Voting is easy! Visit the Spoony Needs Your Vote page on the BirdLife International blog to find your country’s link to the Disney voting page. You will have to create a Disney account if you don’t have one already (which was kind of annoying, I admit, but only took about 90 seconds to complete. You’ve got the time, do it!), and log in. Then place your vote for BirdLife International. It’s that easy! You can vote every week; voting started on November 29th but it’s not clear when the poll closes. Better just go back and vote each week as long as you can! I know I will.


Calling Spoon-billed Sandpiper (uploaded to YouTube by user phonescoper)

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Citizens for Conservation

by Amy Posted on 5 March 2010

Wednesday night I had the pleasure to attend the annual meeting of Citizens for Conservation. CFC is a non-profit organization based around Barrington, Illinois. The group’s mission: “Saving Living Space for Living Things” through protection, restoration and stewardship of land, conservation of natural resources, and education. It was the group’s 39th Annual Meeting, and I was so impressed by the wide range of their activities and the diversity and dedication of their members.

Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation was the proud recipient of the group’s 2010 William H. Miller Conservation Award. Three of FCWR’s education birds were on display during the social hour before the meeting began. I held Meepy (Barred Owl), while a fellow intern had Pip (Barn Owl) and Dawn had Spirit (Long-eared Owl). After I got over my initial nervousness, I had a lot of fun talking with people about Meepy and the other birds and the work that FCWR does. It was my first “program” experience (albeit very informal) and I really enjoyed it!

FSC096
FSC096 by Barrington Area Library Local History, on Flickr

To find out more about Citizens for Conservation, visit their website. They also have a new group on Facebook. As a non-profit organization, they rely on volunteers and donations.

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Ducks Unlimited & a t-shirt from Cooper’s Design

by Amy Posted on 13 March 2009

Via Twitter (I’m @Birdorable) the other day I saw that Cooper’s Design has a campaign to raise money for Ducks Unlimited. I made a donation in their name and scored a great Cooper’s Design t-shirt, which arrived in the mail yesterday!

The shirt came in this very cool I Give Ducks Bread tote bag. I think this logo is so cute – the duck has $$ in his bill!

Coopers Designs Bag

This is the front of the shirt:

Coopers Designs T-Shirt Front

And the large design on the back:

Coopers Designs T-Shirt Back

Ducks Unlimited is dedicated to preserving wetlands and waterfowl habitat.

Ducks Unlimited conserves, restores and manages wetlands and associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl. These habitats also benefit other wildlife and people.

If you’d like to make a donation, feed some bread ($$) to the ducks and help preserve wetlands, why not make a donation to Ducks Unlimited?

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Posted in Charity, Products | 1 Comment

Chicago area bird rehab needs help

by Amy Posted on 22 February 2009

Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, a private nonprofit rehab organization in the Chicagoland area, is in trouble. The group has three locations, in Itasca, Barrington and Chicago (Northerly Island), and in the past six month they have suffered through three floods at two locations. The Northerly Island location suffered a burst pipe on January 17th, ruining the center’s flooring.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Since September, flooding twice forced [founder Dawn] Keller and her all-volunteer crew at Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation in Itasca to evacuate 43 birds from outside cages. Then last month, while Keller was still figuring out where she was going to get $15,000 to replace damaged bird habitats, Flint Creek’s bird emergency room at Northerly Island in Chicago flooded.

Repairs to the ER will cost more than $8,000, and Keller fears they won’t be finished in time for the start of migratory bird season. And as the weather thaws, mildew will start to turn the ER into a veritable bacteria farm, she said.


Read the whole article here

Donations can be made to the center via the website. You can donate via Paypal or contribute to their current fundraising drive via firstgiving.

Here’s a message from founder Dawn Keller, recorded for the 2008 holiday season.

Visit the Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation website for more information.

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Posted in Charity, FCWR, Illinois, Rehabilitation, Video | Leave a comment

Prince Charles Pledges Albatross Support

by Amy Posted on 15 November 2006

“Estimates suggest that 100,000 albatrosses are inadvertently killed each year by long-line fishing boats, particularly from boats in the Southern Ocean catching highly-prized species like tuna, toothfish and swordfish.” Speaking at a premiere for the film ‘Race to Save the Albatross’, the Prince of Wales spoke of his support for BirdLife International’s campaign to save albatrosses from extinction. Read the full story.

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Posted in Aside, Charity, Endangered, Europe | Leave a comment

UK eBay Users Can Use Auctions To Benefit BirdLife

by Amy Posted on 10 April 2006

BirdLife has partnered with service provider MissionFish to allow sellers on eBay.co.uk to donate a portion of their auction proceeds to BirdLife. Sellers using the service may donate 10% – 100% of the final auction sale price to BirdLife. For more information see the article List on eBay to benefit BirdLife on the official website of BirdLife.

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Posted in Aside, Charity, Europe | Leave a comment