An anonymous donor has offered to cover half the cost of what it’ll take to replace the gutted out animal hospital at the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C.
Last month, the NOW reported on how the building was in disrepair because of the harsh winter. Staff had to deal with water damage, wood rot and a rat infestation.
At the time, the association’s board of directors was still deciding on the hospital’s fate, and whether to renovate it or tear it down completely and bring in a modular unit.
Executive director Coleen Doucette says the organization has decided to go with the latter. She says the association is waiting on approvals from Metro Vancouver and the whole project is estimated to cost $600,000.
“We do have a donor who’s willing to (give) half of that so we can do a matching campaign,” she says. “We’re really hopeful that since we have half the money available to us, that we’ll be able to raise the money at the same time we’re waiting for the building permits to go through and then be ready to move on it.”
The goal is to have the modular unit in place by late fall or early winter.
In April, the wildlife rehab centre put a call out to the community in hopes of raising $50,000 to continue operations through the summer. The money (and more) was raised in less than two weeks.
“It was just absolutely amazing. This community rallies around wildlife and the natural world so magnificently,” says Doucette.
The Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. is set to receive another hefty donation.
Daryl Mutz, a Vancouver resident and longtime teacher who died in January 2014, listed the non-profit as one of four beneficiaries of his estate, which was recently settled, according to a staff report presented to New Westminster city council.
While the amount allotted to Wildlife Rescue is unknown, Mutz bequeathed $275,000 to the New Westminster Animal Shelter.
Sixty per cent of the wildlife association’s funding comes through planned giving, notes Doucette.
“Gifts like this are extremely important to our existence. Really, without these kinds of gifts, we wouldn’t even be around,” she says.
