Sarah Williams
Beaver Staff
Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre Annual Baby Shower has come and gone for yet another year. Due to COVID-19, SPWC hosted their fundraising event online for the first time, with close to 3,000 people having participated.
With baby season in full swing, SPWC relies on the event to help care for the large influx of baby animals that come to the centre in springtime.
“It went well, we were pretty pleased because it’s our first time running an online fundraiser,” said Leah Birmingham, assistant director at SPWC. “It garnered around $10,000, so for our first time having an event, that’s good.”
The downside, however, is the event would normally raise $20,000-money that goes directly into caring for animals at the centre.
And, as with any baby shower, guests would normally bring one of the items on the centre’s baby shower wish list. The centre is in dire need of paper towel, toilet paper, unscented laundry detergent or unsalted nuts such as almonds, walnuts or pecans.
“Normally, we don’t have to buy toilet paper all year long, and paper towel brought to the event usually gets us through the better part of spring and summer,” noted Birmingham. “Losing that has a large impact on us.”
On a positive note, the event usually only brings in between 800-1000 visitors. This year, SPWC nearly tripled participation in their baby shower, spreading awareness of their cause and the work they do.
“We could have never expected our first time taking that event to an online scenario to ever have raised the funds and supplies that that event does every year,” said Birmingham, adding that those who organized the baby shower did a wonderful job.
In a year full of unprecedented events, SPWC was unsure of what to expect in terms of admissions to the centre. So far, they’ve received over 1,200 animals in need of care.
“We just really didn’t know what to expect, but as it turns out, we are at over 1,200 admissions so far this year, the majority of which has come in the last three to four weeks, which is fairly normal,” asserted Birmingham. “We have less interns, though. So normally, we’re running on 12 interns but we’ve only had five, so we’ve had to hire more staff than intended to cover that.”
Part of the the virtual baby shower included a raffle, which is running until the end of May. Tickets are $5 each and prizes include a stay at the Island Mill Getaway, wine tasting for six at Karlo Estates Winery and a half day wine tour with Sandbanks Vacations and Tours.
Birmingham added that apart from the raffle, SPWC has also put out pleas for the public to think of them when grocery shopping and pick up an extra package of toilet paper, paper towel, unscented laundry soap or unsalted nuts, if possible. Donations can be left on the SPWC porch.
To purchase a raffle ticket, visit the SPWC Baby Shower website here:
https://www.sandypinesbabyshower.com/raffle-tickets.
For more information about SPWC, including how to donate or other items on their wish list, please visit their website here: https://sandypineswildlife.org/ .