Every bird matters

Dear friend,

Perhaps you have heard this wonderful and apocryphal story before. It is one I have always found especially pertinent to IBRRC’s work.

An old man was walking along the beach and saw in the distance a young boy who appeared to be dancing and gyrating at the ocean’s edge. As the man got closer, he realized that the boy was not dancing at all. The tide had gone out, beaching thousands and thousands of starfish. The boy was throwing starfish one after the other back into the ocean so that they might survive.

“Son, you can’t possibly throw all of those starfish back. How can what you are doing possibly matter,” the old man asked.

As the boy threw yet another starfish back into the safety of the ocean, he replied “it mattered to that one.”

That story captures the heart and soul of IBRRC’s work. It matters to every bird we save.

This holiday season, please consider making a generous contribution to International Bird Rescue Research Center. For the next six days, a generous donor will match your contribution dollar for dollar, up to a total of $5000.

For four decades, IBRRC has been at the forefront of efforts to rescue and rehabilitate seabirds threatened by oil spills, other man-made injuries, and unusual illnesses. Our work has taken us to South Africa, Latin America, Alaska, and of course most recently to the front lines of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Even as many of our most experienced rescue workers toiled in the Gulf, seabirds and other aquatic birds continued to pour in to one of our two West Coast rescue facilities. We treated more than 2,800 pelicans, grebes, herons, geese, ducks and other species at our Northern and Southern California facilities between April and October.

BP paid the costs of our Gulf rescue work, but our day-to-day operations depend on donations from people like you.

And, for the next six days, your donations will be matched dollar for dollar, up to a total of $5000. Please give generously today.

Our centers and rescue teams are available 24/7 every day of the year. And it is rare for a day to go by without new arrivals requiring urgent medical care.

You can be assured that your life-saving donation to IBRRC will go far. Much of our work is handled by volunteers who give countless hours of time and love to the birds we treat. Your gift will cover medical supplies, food for recovering birds, and the other necessities of maintaining two state-of-the-art avian ERs.

Just like the boy in the story, our work has mattered — to thousands of birds that survived the trauma of oil slicks, fishhook injuries, and mass outbreaks of illness with a little help from people who care.

Thank you for your past concern and thank you in advance for your generous support during this holiday season.

Sincerely,

Jay Holcomb, Executive Director
International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC)

P. S. A recovering pelican eats 5 pounds of fish a day. Your donation will help ensure that the birds in our care stand the best possible chance to thrive in the wild once they are released.

Read more at International Bird Rescue Research Center

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