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The Avangrid Foundation Gives $100,000 to Support Wildlife

Avangrid Avangrid Foundation Protecting our Planet

The Avangrid Foundation Gives $100,000 to Support Wildlife

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The Avangrid Foundation has awarded $100,000 in grants to 13 wildlife rehabilitation organizations. These grants, which are part of the Foundation’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Program, support the care and protection of habitats and wildlife. More so, they affirm the Foundation’s long-term commitment to protecting biodiversity.

Since 2017 the Foundation has provided funding to wildlife organizations, leveraging internal subject matter expertise such as from Avangrid Renewables’ Operations Wildlife Compliance team. This marks the second consecutive year the Foundation issued a nationwide request for proposals. From Connecticut to California, the 13 grantees span 10 states and reside within communities that are serviced by the AVANGRID family of companies.

The grantees expressed immense gratitude for the Foundation’s support, which will advance a range of initiatives from education to operations and new technology. Below is a list of the 13 grantees and how each will use their funding.

  • Liberty Wildlife (Arizona): “Avangrid Foundation’s donation has been a huge help,” said Chris Sar, development consultant at Liberty Wildlife. “It’s benefited not just the animals we care for, but also the volunteers. We’ve been able to reduce the stresses that the heat causes each summer. Thank you, AVANGRID!”
  • UC Davis California Raptor Center (California): “We are so grateful to the Avangrid Foundation for supporting the care of our patient population at the California Raptor Center,” said Michelle Hawkins, VMD, DABVP (Avian Practice). “These funds give us the opportunity to advance excellence in our standard of care for both veterinary and rehabilitative care.”
  • Ojai Raptor Center (California): “Thanks to the Avangrid Foundation, the Ojai Raptor Center has been able to acquire a radiograph machine enabling speedier and improved diagnoses of patients, resulting in more birds of prey returning to the wild,” said Kimberly Stroud, executive director and founder at Ojai Raptor Center.
  • Sharon Audubon (Connecticut): “Thanks to the Avangrid Foundation grant, we can offer a unique opportunity for a young person who’s passionate about wildlife to learn about threats to birds in the human environment, how to help those birds, and how we can all make our surroundings safer for birds,” said Eileen Fielding, director, Sharon Audubon Center. “The grant also enables us to bring our wildlife clinic back up to full capacity for the spring and summer season.”
  • Roaring Brook Nature Center (Connecticut): “The Avangrid grant allowed us to keep Roaring Brook Nature Center’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic open at the start of a new year, when requests to take in animals are low, but also when financial contributions to the Clinic are equally low,” said Jay Kaplan, director, Roaring Brook Nature Center. “In addition to caring for rescued, injured or orphaned animals, our Clinic staff also took care of the Nature Center’s raptors who are permanent residents. They are educational ambassadors for RBNC, so feeding and caring for these birds is a vitally important ongoing expense.”
  • Center for Wildlife (Maine): The center, which specializes in conservation medicine, will expand their research and collect data on toxins in the environment through bloodwork and necropsy for keystone species such as seabirds, bats and turtles. For 33 years the facility has treated over 50,000 injured and orphaned wild animals and presented programming to thousands of community members annually.
  • Hawks Aloft (New Mexico): “We are so indebted to the Avangrid Foundation for their ongoing support of Hawks Aloft and our programs,” said Gail Garber, executive director, Hawks Aloft. “Honestly, I don’t know how we would manage without their support.”
  • Whispering Willow Wild Care (New York): “Our project could not have been continued without the generous support of the Avangrid Foundation, for which I am profoundly grateful,” said Joyce Perry, board of director at Whispering Willow Wild Care. “Particularly, I want to thank the Foundation for their consideration, flexibility and continued support during the Covid-19 pandemic, which required significant changes in the methodology of this project.”
  • Nature’s Nursery (Ohio): “The support that Nature’s Nursery received from Avangrid Foundation is essential to our ability to be timely and effective in our response to wildlife rescues,” said Allison Schroeder, executive director At Nature’s Nursery. “AVANGRID sets a great example of how large entities can make positive impacts through community support and nonprofit funding. The partnership is invaluable to the environment and our wildlife populations.”
  • Blue Mountain Wildlife (Oregon): The grant will support their Remote Education Enablement project, which helps bring their birds to the virtual classroom and expand access to programming. In addition to having cared for over 10,000 animals since 1990, Blue Mountain Wildlife also educates over 10,000 local students and community members each year.
  • Wildlife Works (Pennsylvania): “Working together with the Avangrid Foundation has been a win-win situation,” Beth Shoaf, executive director and senior rehabilitator. “Wildlife Works has been able to benefit and expand due to the partnership, and it is our hope that our successes reflect positively on the Foundation’s mission.”
  • Red Creek Wildlife Center (Pennsylvania): “We are grateful for the generous help we receive from the Avangrid Foundation,” said Peggy Sue Hentz, Founder of Red Creek Wildlife Center. “Red Creek Wildlife Center has several dozen raptors wintering over in addition to the non-releasable foster birds and education ambassadors we house year-round. These funds help keep Red Creek Wildlife Center operating, especially during the winter months when donations are low, but animal care continues.”
  • Saving our Avian Resources (SOAR) (Iowa): Funding will make possible the construction of a new flight enclosures for small raptors—American kestrels and Eastern screech owls. SOAR, is dedicated to saving our avian resources through raptor rehabilitation, education and research.

To learn more about the Avangrid Foundation, please click here.

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