Did you catch us on My Carolina CBS 17?

“Whooo” were those familiar faces on My Carolina on January 18th? Why, only Piedmont Wildlife Center’s very own Apollo and Shelly - with their human friends Executive Director Karen McCall and Director of Conservation Noelle Rizzieri!

Huge thanks to the team at CBS 17 for inviting us to talk nature connection, native wildlife, and PWC’s 20th anniversary. We can’t wait to come back with more of our Ambassador Animals!

Watch our My Carolina debut in the video above, on Facebook, or on our YouTube channel. You can hear Karen talk about PWC’s mission of nature connection starting at 0:30. Noelle joins Amber and Carly to share fun facts about our Ambassador Animals at 5:05.

Thanks for celebrating 20 years with us!

We had a wildly good time celebrating Piedmont Wildlife Center last Friday, January 20th - and it was all thanks to YOU!

With your help, we kicked off PWC's third decade by raising $17,033.95 to support our conservation, education, and citizen science programs. All this while listening to incredible music by folk duo Kiah Wells and Jesse Fox, walking down memory lane with past and present PWC leaders, and enjoying the company of 95 fellow nature lovers!

Whether you bought tickets, volunteered at the event, donated a raffle item or door prize, spread the word, sponsored us, made a donation toward our fundraising goal, bought a 20th Anniversary t-shirt, or simply cheered us on from afar, we could not have done this without you. 

Follow the link below to hear a special thank-you message from Executive Director Karen McCall (and Shelly the box turtle). Thank you for supporting our mission of connecting people and nature - yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Special thanks to our generous sponsors: Pinnacle Financial Partners, Carrboro Coffee Roasters/Caffe Driade/Open Eye Cafe, Cat's Cradle, & Mediterranean Deli.

"I see them connect with nature as I have..."

Dear friends,

Piedmont Wildlife Center is turning 20 on January 1st, 2023! We are so excited to reach this milestone and celebrate with our community of nature lovers. I hope you will join us for our 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Durham Armory on Friday, January 20th from 7:30-10:00 PM to celebrate two decades of nature connection, catch up with friends new and old, and raise a glass to the next 20 years.
 
Looking back at my 11 ½ years here, I am grateful for how far we’ve come and everyone I’ve had the chance to work with, from campers to colleagues. Spending time immersed in nature has been my life’s passion, instilled in me by my parents as a child. When I take a breath and look at the trees, listen to the wind and birdsong, see fish swimming in the ocean, I feel a deep connection to all beings on Earth.
 
Watching the kids in our camp and conservation programs light up with curiosity, I see them beginning to connect with nature as I have. They leave happy and fulfilled, wanting to come back again and again. Their self-confidence grows, and they eagerly share what they’ve learned with their parents. Most importantly, I see these children growing into responsible stewards of our environment.
 
Today, our nature programs are reaching more people than ever before. This year, with your help, we:

• Taught more than 11,000 kids, teens, and adults through outdoor camps, afterschool, homeschool, and conservation programs.

• Brought up-close animal encounters to 275 students at 10 Title 1 schools.

• Received 2 grants to run afterschool programs in 4 Title 1 schools in Orange County.

• Welcomed 3 new full-time staff members and 4 new Ambassador Animals.

However, as demand for our programs grows, so do our waitlists. We are also rapidly outgrowing our physical space in Leigh Farm Park. As we prepare to enter our third decade, the biggest challenge we face is expanding our programs to make PWC accessible to all members of our community and meet the NC Triangle’s need for environmental education programming. Most of all, we need our own land.
 
Help us meet the challenges of our next 20 years - and beyond! Join us for our 20th Anniversary Celebration by purchasing tickets as part of your year-end giving.
 
Can’t make it to the party? You can also make a one-time or recurring donation through our secure website.

Remember… you are the reason so many people can come to PWC and develop a life-long love of nature, wildlife, and conservation. Your gift helps us make sure everyone has access to nature’s magic.

Thank you for being part of our community, and for every way you support us. With love and gratitude from our family to yours, we wish you happy holidays!

Karen McCall, Executive Director

Piedmont Wildlife Center Celebrates 20 Years

This New Year’s Day, Piedmont Wildlife Center will have another reason to celebrate. January 1, 2023 marks 20 years since the Durham-based environmental nonprofit first opened its doors.

Piedmont Wildlife Center (PWC) was founded in 2003 by veterinarian Dr. Robert Schopler as a wildlife hospital. After treating countless animals in the center’s first 6 years, Schopler and his successor Gail Abrams realized education was key to preventing the kinds of human-wildlife conflicts that brought animals to rehabilitators in the first place.

“After years of surgeries on fractured shells and broken wings, I realized that empowering people to protect our environment has a much bigger benefit,” says Schopler. “What good does it do to fix a bluebird’s wing or nurse a baby squirrel to maturity if there are no wild places for it to return to?”

In 2009, PWC closed its hospital and reorganized to focus on environmental education and conservation. It has since reached thousands of children, teens, and adults through its award-winning outdoor camps, classes, and educational wildlife programs. The center currently cares for 26 non-releasable Ambassador Animals, including many hawks, owls, reptiles, and mammals native to North Carolina. PWC also contributes data on eastern box turtles to the statewide Box Turtle Connection study, and encourages the public to get involved through their Triangle Turtle Trekkers citizen science project.

For Karen McCall, PWC’s current Executive Director, PWC’s biggest success over the last 20 years has been inspiring kids and teens to connect with the natural world. “Watching the kids in our camp and conservation programs light up with curiosity, I see them beginning to connect with nature as I have,” McCall says. “Their self-confidence grows, and they eagerly share what they’ve learned with their parents. Most importantly, I see these children growing into stewards of our environment.”

The wildlife center will celebrate its 20th birthday at its 20th Anniversary Celebration on Friday, January 20, 2023. The event will be held at the Durham Armory from 7:30-10:00 PM. Guests can look forward to live bluegrass music, heavy hors d’oeuvres, door prizes and raffles, animal meet-and-greets, and more, sponsored by Pinnacle Financial Partners and Carrboro Coffee Roasters. Tickets start at $100/person and may be purchased at www.piedmontwildlifecenter.org/20th-anniversary-celebration.

For more details, please contact Samantha Horn (sam@piedmontwildlifecenter.org) or Karen McCall (karenm@piedmontwildlifecenter.org) via e-mail or phone at 919-489-0900.

You helped us SOAR past our goal this GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday 2022 was a huge success - and it's all because of YOU! Whether you donated, spread the word about us, shared our posts and reels, voted on our new birds' names, or simply cheered us on, we are so grateful for your support.

Because of you, we not only unlocked our match and surpassed our $3,333 goal, but raised $5,310 from 110 individual donations. That makes a grand total of $9,400 including matching funds!

We are so touched by your generosity. With the funds raised this GivingTuesday, we will be able to feed our 3 new birds AND provide veterinary care, enrichment, and enclosure maintenance for all 10 of our raptor Ambassadors throughout 2023.

We'll continue to accept donations to vote on our new birds' names until Thursday, Dec. 1st at 5 PM EST. Look for an announcement at the beginning of next week with the results!

Thank you, again, for all the ways you support us - on GivingTuesday and all year round!