Megan Mosby
Executive Director
For the past few years, we have participated in a unique fundraising platform called “A Community Thrives” Campaign which is sponsored by the Gannett Foundation/AZ Central/AZ Republic and USA Today. The campaign lasts for four weeks with each week allowing the opportunity to ultimately win larger grants if we are in the top three organizations. During the first week, the competition is to be the charity with the most donors at any level. The second week competition is to recognize the charity that brings in the most money during that particular week. The third week is again the most individual donors and the fourth and final week “win” goes to the charity with the most dollars raised during the entire month of the campaign…so a fun little spice for each week to sweeten the pot/participation!
While in the past, we haven’t won any of the categories, we have been in the top 10 a couple of times…so we are very close.
Can you help us?
The main goal of this campaign is to raise a total of $6,000 over the course of the month so that we can qualify for regional and national grants from AZ Central/Arizona Republic and USA Today/Gannett Foundation.
We totally need you to help us make this goal.
Our driving goal is to raise money to expand all of our programs…the programs that benefit thousands and thousands of wildlife each year. In 2021 we helped 12,750 animals from 214 different species. We provided over 970 educational experiences and engaged volunteers in a total of 75,711 hours of service. Our Non-Eagle Feather Repository historically has provided well over 5000 feather orders to legally recognized Native Americans across the United States. Our accomplishments are staggering! Our message and educational mission are critical.
We are currently engaged in the creation of a documentary about the work of Liberty Wildlife and all of its partners in creating community around our work, around nature, around culture and community. It is our goal to distribute this nationally, spreading the word about this important mission and direction. Your confidence in us will be supported by your participation in “A Community Thrives” Campaign.
Starting Tuesday, July 19 you can look for information on how you can help at this link: https://acommunitythrives.mightycause.com/story/Wg1j6g.
Watch for more information from us on how you can help personally, and it would be beyond perfect if you would forward this to friends and families to also participate. Remember, the first week is all about numbers of individual people who donate. We would love to report back that we won this week’s competition. It’s not about amounts…but about numbers of donors. And only gifts made through the contest website count in the final tally.
You can definitely help!
Thank you in advance for helping us provide more programming across the state and with our Non-Eagle Feather Repository, across the nation.
Don’t ever forget, we are all connected. The good we do here will connect with others and spread like the ripples in a lake after a stone is tossed into the calm. Be that stone, be that ripple, be that lake. This is your chance to help the community of animals and people.
This Week @ Liberty – July 5, 2022
Monsoon season continues! But just how important are these summer storms? Many desert wildlife species depend on the monsoon season to reproduce. If sufficient rain doesn’t fall, species such as the spadefoot toad, Sonoran desert toad, and Gila monster will not leave their underground burrows. All these species spend 9 months or more underground, only emerging when the conditions are right to eat and reproduce. These monsoons provide food and water and temper the extreme summer heat, which is crucial to their life-cycle and the preservation of biodiversity in the desert.
Brown Pelicans
Over the past few weeks, we have taken in two brown pelicans found near Phoenix. These sea-faring creatures do not do well in the Arizona desert. Typically, they get blown into Arizona by monsoon storms, can’t find enough food, and are too weak to fly back to the ocean. These two don’t have any physical injuries or illnesses, so the rehab process is fairly simple. We just fatten them up and send them on their way!
We will be transferring them to the International Bird Rescue located in California. From there, they will continue their rehab and be released back to the ocean.
The Desert Rock Whale
Lesser nighthawks have excellent camouflage and spend most of their day on the ground, trying to blend in with the desert landscape. They are crepuscular, meaning they are mainly active during dusk and dawn. When they do leave the ground to feed, they open their mouths extremely wide and inhale all the insects in their path, like a whale eating plankton. They can commonly be seen around light poles after sunset, drawn to the insects that the light attracts.
Nighthawks aren’t much for building nests, rather they lay their eggs in scrapes on the ground. Their eggs are striking, and very much look like a rock you would find on the desert floor. A few of the nighthawks pictured above came to us from construction sites around the valley.
Unfortunately, they had to be removed due to imminent danger. After receiving the proper permits and authorization to remove the nests, we take them in and raise them, before releasing them back out into the wild.
Relocation with nighthawks isn’t an option, as the parent is attached to the location of the nest. If you were to take the parent and eggs to another location, the parent would not recognize the eggs as their own since it’s not the same location it laid the eggs at.
Animal Ambassador of the Week – Henry
Barn owls are one of the most wide-spread owl species and can be found on 6 continents. These nocturnal hunters use their excellent hearing to hunt small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, and small rats. They take well to nesting boxes, and some farms will put up nest boxes to encourage barn owls as a way to get free and environmentally friendly pest control.
Henry came to us in 2014 with severe head trauma. After a month of rehabilitation, the only remaining sign of his injury was a slight head tilt. When tested for release he demonstrated inadequate skills to hunt and survive in the wild. Therefore, he was deemed non-releasable and is one of the many animals you can meet during our open hours!
Posted by Nathan Thrash
Public Outreach Coordinator
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