Kay M.

When Kay was 4 or 5 years old, she tried to revive a baby sparrow found on the ground in her small town Alabama backyard. Birds, turtles, pollywogs, salamanders, caterpillars and butterflies, plus her family pets of dogs, cats, hamsters and guinea pigs, were all welcomed by her Mother in their home. Kay can still see her as she swaddled each of their rescue dog Dolly's just born puppies in towels that she had warmed in the oven. Since then friends seem to naturally call Kay when they come across injured or orphaned animals and birds. And she has learned much from friends as well. She saw firsthand the benefits of TNR for feral cats in the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, NY, where one friend began a nonprofit to help the numerous street cats. She has also assisted a friend in capturing pigeons with only gloved hands, to de-string them; taking those who needed additional treatment to The Wild Bird Fund. She first learned of The Alabama Wildlife Center(AWC) at their presentation at the Salamander Festival. Kay had only recently returned South following the death of her parents, after more than 20 years away. As unsure as she was about moving back, she felt immediately welcomed, and later embraced, by a group of people that she likes, and whose work she respects and reveres. Kay says that caring for the patients at AWC is so amazingly fulfilling, and such a joy! And as rewarding as rehabbing is, the exhilaration of releasing them to their home outdoors is magical! Currently they have three very small incubators in the nursery, but they do not have an incubator available for those patients who are bigger than a songbird nestling, and need the immediate intense warmth only an incubator provides. In addition to the time that Kay volunteers every week, it would mean so much to her to be able to provide this extra care an incubator in the exam room would provide for these highly vulnerable patients.