HILDEN, N.S. — It’s a donation that could buy a lot of mealworms.
Nature’s Way Canada, through a partnership with 1% for the Planet, recently donated $20,000 to the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (CWRC) to help feed and care for injured and orphaned wildlife.
“I live not far from the centre, on the Shubenacadie River, and we’re fortunate to have bald eagles there,” said Pam McEwing, vice president of operations for Nature’s Way Canada. “When the opportunity came to nominate a group for a donation I thought of the centre.”
McEwing had met Helene VanDoninck, who, along with her husband Murdo Messer, founded the CWRC.
“I remembered her talking about the work done at the centre so I looked into the organization more and reached out to Murdo.”
The company sets aside a portion of the funds raised from sales of omega-3 products and donates to organizations approved by 1% for the Planet. Nature’s Way allows employees to nominate non-profits so McEwing put the CWRC’s name forward and staff voted. The centre received the majority of votes.
“This is really helpful because it gives us some breathing room,” said Messer. “We’ll be able to use it to fix up some things and it’ll help with day to day operations. We rely on donations to fund the entire operation, and we appreciate them all, large or small.”
McEwing got to see a few of the animals in care when she dropped off the donation.
“Seeing the eagles being helped at the centre was amazing,” she said. “I also saw a saw-whet owl and a great horned owl. Seeing them being cared for and learning about the species was quite impactful for me. They’re doing so much work with limited resources. I’m glad we could help take some of the financial stress off.”
To see the eagles in the flyway, live on webcam, visit http://cwrc.net/cms2/wp/2018/07/27/cwrc-live-cam/.
