Leonardo da Vinci

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

The Year 2002 in Review
 by Ruth Hayward, President

Happy New Year to all Project Wildlife members and supporters. We trust that you survived the holidays and wish you the very best for 2003. We believe you will be interested in our accomplishments for 2002, and here are some reflections.

PW volunteers continued to care for an abundance of wildlife, again over 10,000 in 2002. This makes five years in a row that our species count has exceeded 10,000. Last year's birth rate for some animal species differed from the average (very few births for some types of birds, but many mammals), perhaps due to the drought. The Care Center's intake topped 7600 and the Mobile Care Unit collected nearly 500 in North County. The remaining numbers of animals, approximately 2500, were taken directly to our home care volunteers. Our volunteers are the core of our existence and I attempted to put a number to the hours they contribute with a survey. A conservative estimate is 250,000 hours per year, a phenomenal amount.

To support our rehabilitation efforts, we began an extensive rewrite of team policies and procedures. Plus we established a Training Team, designed to educate new volunteers and ensure uniform care standards. To further this end, PW hosted a three-day conference, in San Diego, held by the California Council of Wildlife Rehabilitators.

PW was featured in several Union-Tribune articles and we had six rescues filmed by local TV stations. A video describing PW's contribution to the community and giving information about our wild neighbors was completed. The video will be used for education and to present our organization to the community. Wildlife Day in Balboa Park was a huge success with TV coverage from five local stations. A new design for our informational brochure was produced, with the help of a graphics artist, and printed. An SDSU public relations major chose PW for her senior project and produced valuable information, strategies and a media kit for future use.

Some have asked that we report on Board of Director activities and of course the board was involved in the topics listed above. Last year the board worked tirelessly on matters to insure PW's viability legally and financially. We interviewed for and hired an Executive Director, Julie Pokrandt. Julie's duties include fund raising, grant writing and the transition into the everyday operation of the organization. We began an extensive re-write of the bylaws; completion will be this year. After interviewing several other nonprofit organizations and consulting with nonprofit attorneys, we asked for and obtained consent of the membership to become a non-voting member corporation. This was done to save money and to streamline operations. Several tasks were brought in house, with the help of volunteers, which saved thousands of dollars - these included accounts payable and preparation of mailings. Because of our education programs we were able to sign up for eScrip where a percentage of purchase prices is donated to PW by participating merchants. Further, we have begun forming an Advisory Board.

PW was successful in securing grants for several projects. Supervisor Pam Slater is awarding us $15,000 to improve Care Center operations. A San Diego Foundation award of $5,000 funds the study of parasites in waterfowl living at small local lakes. This has facilitated the purchase of good analytical equipment. $1,800 came from TRW to support the Mobile Care Unit in North County. Volunteer San Diego and Charles Schwab provided workers to accomplish maintenance tasks at the Care Center and Mobile Unit. LEAD San Diego accepted our proposal to establish a buying co-op for the County's nonprofit animal organizations - potentially saving PW and other groups money in their purchases of supplies and food.

These are some of the highlights for 2002. They couldn't have been accomplished without the selfless efforts of many hundreds of individuals, volunteers and staff. I am very proud of the achievements and I hope you will be too.

Ruth Hayward, President

Do We Have Your Current E-mail Address?

We'll send you advance notice of special events, remind you when it's time to renew your membership, send invitations to members-only lectures, and more! Eventually, we will even be able to send you the Back to Nature newsletter electronically!

Please take the time to give us your e-mail address either by visiting our web site at www.projectwildlife.org. 

Thanks for your help!

Back to Nature newsletter is published quarterly by:
Project Wildlife
4343 Morena Blvd., #7
San Diego, CA 92117

Project Wildlife is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of San Diego County Wildlife. Project Wildlife is also dedicated to the education of San Diego County residents on local wildlife and how to coexist with local mammals and birds.

To get in touch with Project Wildlife, see our contact page

Ways to Give:
Endowment Program
United Way Donations
Flowers for Wildlife
Protectors of Wildlife

Programs:
Education Department and Programs