Bird sanctuary future optimistic

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Published on Friday, August 19, 2016

Banner file photo. The meeting organized by the Town of Neepawa to determine what will happen to the Bird Sanctuary revealed that the community is willing to step up when necessary to keep the birds here.

By Kira Paterson

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

Things are looking up for Neepawa’s Bird Sanctuary following a community meeting held on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Jake Birch, who has been the main caretaker of the birds and the sanctuary itself for 16 years, is stepping down at the end of August, along with George Burnett, who stepped up to help Birch whenever he wasn’t able to tend to the birds. 

Birch had been looking for more volunteers to help him out for almost a year, with very little results until now. Leisure Services manager Amanda Novak, who has been involved in trying to find volunteers to replace Birch and Burnett, said that since the article in the July 27 Neepawa Press came out about Birch stepping down, she’s had 15 individuals and groups commit to volunteering at the sanctuary. As of now, Touchwood is the only group that has committed to supplying volunteers a few times a week, the rest are individuals. Novak said she has a few other groups on her list that she is going to contact to ask if they would be interested. On that list is the high school, which has a volunteering program to help students keep track of the hours they spend helping out in the community and give them credit for their time.

At the meeting, attendees were given a list of the birds and duties that would come with volunteering, in case people were thinking of volunteering but weren’t sure what it would entail. Birch explained that it really only takes half an hour a day to feed and water the animals and maybe a little longer in the winter, when they’re kept inside, to clean out their stalls. 

Novak explained at the meeting that they were hoping to get a committee or association of three or four people to do administrative duties, such as organize volunteer schedules, keep track of overall maintenance, order supplies when needed and keep track of finances, such as amounts collected in the donation box and grants. Novak noted that most of the finances will be dealt with by the Town of Neepawa, as that is where the sanctuary gets the most consistent funding. 

Three people have stepped up to be on the steering committee, two of which will be co-signers to replace Birch and Burnett. The three individuals are Brenda Ferguson, Richard Masters and Krista Speiss, who have all agreed to help at the sanctuary as well as administrate. This group will meet as needed – quarterly at the minimum – to make sure everything is going well and keep track of what’s happening. Novak will be there at the first couple meetings to help out with terms of reference and how to organize the committee itself. 

On Monday, Aug. 29, at 7 pm at the Bird Sanctuary, Birch will be giving an orientation for volunteers to give them an idea of the daily tasks that need to be done, what to watch for in the animals’ behaviour and other things that a volunteer would need to know when taking care of the birds. The orientation is not only for the volunteers who have already committed, but also for those who are considering volunteering and just want to know what it would be like before making a commitment. 

Once he has officially stepped down, Birch won’t totally disappear. He made  it clear that all the volunteers will be able to contact him so they can ask him any questions at any time if they’re ever unsure of something. He also said he would still be willing to go to bird sales to buy new birds or sell some to help out with the finances. 

As for the Rotary Club and Neepawa Wildlife Association, who were the groups that helped start the sanctuary, both are still willing to support the project. Rotary confirmed that they will still be willing to donate to the sanctuary when there are new amenities or infrastructure that need to be funded. Wildlife also agreed to remain as a resource and help out with big projects that the sanctuary takes on. 

Overall, the response from the community was very supportive and showed that they want the sanctuary to continue. “I’m very pleased with the way things went, I thought it was very positive,” said Novak. “I think people are willing to step up to the plate, they don’t want to see [the Bird Sanctuary] go.”