[SEMCO] PRESS RELEASE: Cape Wildlife Center Receives Grants from Orenda Wildlife Land Trust

[Theresa Barbo]

May 4, 2017

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

For information contact:

Zak Mertz

Executive Director

Cape Wildlife Center

E:         zmertz56 at gmail.com

M:        617.835.6845

  

Cape Wildlife Center (CWC) Receives Major Grant from Orenda Wildlife Land Trust

 

(Barnstable, Cape Cod, Mass.) – The Cape Wildlife Center (CWC) today announced it has received a $35,000 grant from the Orenda Wildlife Land Trust to continue its mission to provide veterinary and rehabilitation care to sick, injured and orphaned wildlife at its 4.5-acre campus along Route 6A in Barnstable.

“This gift represents not only a belief in the work that our hospital staff is already doing on behalf of wildlife, but it endorses the goodwill and education we will deliver to our shared community as we grow this organization,” said Zak Mertz, executive director of the CWC. “Cape Wildlife Center is not out of the woods yet, this is still an emergency situation. Every day we struggle to raise enough money to provide humane veterinary care to patients with nowhere else to turn. Orenda’s support is extremely heartening, and has already helped care for over 200 animals this year. We are incredibly grateful,” Mertz added.

“Together, we will protect our shared wild legacy,” said Barbara U. Birdsey, founder of the Cape Wildlife Center, the Orenda Wildlife Land Trust and The Pegasus Foundation which manages the CWC. 

Founded in 1986, the mission of the Orenda Wildlife Land Trust (orendalandtrust.org) is to protect and preserve open space sanctuaries for wildlife on Cape Cod and throughout Massachusetts. Over 330 acres in 14 wildlife sanctuaries are currently managed by Orenda, which takes its name from the Native American phrase meaning “protected place” by the Seneca nation.

“Orenda is committed to protecting not only the land, but the wildlife which calls these wild fields, meadows and forests home,” added Daniel Morast, vice-president of Orenda.

Last fall, The Humane Society of the United States (The HSUS) announced plans to close the Cape Wildlife Center, citing a tight budget and the need to navigate resources into its larger rehabilitation facility in south Florida. The Pegasus Foundation, a leader in national animal welfare concerns, and the New England Wildlife Center in South Weymouth, immediately proposed a plan and financial support, with the cooperation of The HSUS, to keep the Center running for at least a year. Friends of Cape Wildlife, a Cape-based and newly-formed non-profit, also provides some financial support and some 50 trained volunteers to help the facility function, all under the management of The Pegasus Foundation. 

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About the Cape Wildlife Center

The Cape Wildlife Center is Cape Cod’s only veterinary facility for over 2,000 sick, injured and orphaned birds and animals which are treated every year. In addition to caring for these patients, the CWC works to educate the general public, resource managers and decision-makers about environmental conservation. To learn more, visit capecodwildlifecenter.org. Call the Wildlife Hotline at 508-362-0111, and follow CWC on Facebook.

 

Through a strategy of engaged philanthropy, The Pegasus Foundation (pegasusfoundation.org) serves as a catalyst to help non-profit organizations achieve their potential by forming partnerships, leveraging resources, and educating the public. The Pegasus Foundation seeks to inspire collaborations by organizing conferences and meetings, and facilitating communications.

 

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Theresa M. Barbo
Author/Journalist
Communications & Management Consultant

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theresambarbo.com
Mobile:  774.263.4219



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