Save The Date: Boost Your Impact This Giving Tuesday

This Giving Tuesday, December 3rd, we’re aiming to raise $7,500 as a critical step toward recovering from this year's unexpected expenses—and the first $2,500 in donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar by our board, maximizing your impact!

Relocating from the Cabin at Leigh Farm Park was a tough and unexpected change for our team, our Ambassador Animals, and the community we serve. From finding temporary housing for our animals to adapting to temporary office spaces, these changes came with steep, unplanned costs. While our $7,500 Giving Tuesday goal is just one piece of what we need to recover fully, it’s a vital starting point.

Your generosity will help us:

• Work toward a permanent home with facilities that meet the needs of both our animals and the people who care for and learn from them.

• Ensure our staff has the tools, resources, and support they need to continue delivering high-quality camps and programs.

• Build a stronger foundation for Piedmont Wildlife Center, enabling us to grow, adapt, and better serve our community for years to come.

By donating on Giving Tuesday, you’ll help us Rebuild, Renew, and Reimagine a brighter future for Piedmont Wildlife Center. Thank you for believing in us and standing with us through this journey!

America Recycles Day: Turning Your Recyclables into Wildlife Enrichment

November 15th is America Recycles Day! Established in 1997, this eco-friendly national holiday educates Americans on the importance of recycling and how to properly recycle products. One thing I personally did not realize until I was much older than I’d like to admit is that the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” is actually the order of importance of keeping products out of landfills. The best thing we can do is to reduce the amounts of plastics and other non-natural items we purchase and consume, but since things need to come in packaging, the second best thing we can do is reuse (or repurpose) those items. If all else fails, we should attempt to recycle those items when we are finished with them so they can go on to create other items.

At PWC, we appreciate our Animal Ambassadors and want to help them live their best lives. By creatively reusing everyday household items, we create enrichment activities to promote their natural behaviors and keep them engaged. Yesterday’s newspapers are our most commonly used items, either as lining for our critters’ enclosures, loosely stuffed in a box for our native snakes to hide in and explore, or as shreddable material for our pigeons. Toilet paper tubes are useful for hiding food so the raptors can mimic shredding their prey before they enjoy their meal. Cardboard boxes can be used for hides for the rat pack, to give our possum some privacy, or for the bottom of foraging boxes for our raven. Even larger cardboard boxes can be cut down to create toys and chewables for our rabbits (whose teeth never stop growing)! There are so many ways we can use your recyclable items in our everyday animal care.

The following everyday items can easily be put to use by our animal care team and volunteers to help our animals get the care they deserve:

• Toilet paper and paper towel tubes

• Empty tissue boxes

• Yesterday’s newspaper

• Egg cartons (styrofoam or paper)

• Shoe boxes

• Plastic jars, yogurt containers (with or without lids)

• Cardboard boxes (any size, but please no used pizza boxes or boxes with chemicals spilt on them)

• Books and magazines

• Cereal boxes, cracker boxes, really any boxes as long as food hasn’t directly contacted the material

• Soda/juice bottles (any plastic size is great)

  If you don’t have any recyclables to donate or are already repurposing items around your house, please check out our Amazon and Chewy wishlists! If you have any questions, please email our Animal Enrichment Coordinator at jillian@piedmontwildlifecenter.org. Happy upcycling!

Article by Jillian Langston-Bennett

Autumn Adventures Auction Success: Thank You for Your Support!

We're proud to share that our Autumn Adventures Online Auction raised $4,458! Whether you placed a bid, made a donation, or cheered us on from the sidelines, your support means so much.

What will $4,458 accomplish at Piedmont Wildlife Center?

• $2,825 covers the costs of dumpsters used to clear out the cabin and carriage house prior to our move within Leigh Farm Park.

• $1,033 helps offset the costs of sheds we built to store equipment and supplies, allowing us to move our Eastern Box Turtle Ambassadors indoors for the winter.

• $500 covers wellness exam fees for 10 of our Ambassador Animals.

• $100 covers the cost of new smoke alarms.

If you won an auction item, keep an eye on your inbox! We’ll reach out this week to coordinate your item pickup or delivery.

Thank you for believing in us and standing with us through this period of transition. Your support empowers us to keep moving forward, more resilient and committed than ever to connecting our community with nature through outdoor education, animal programs, and wildlife research.

With deepest gratitude,

The Piedmont Wildlife Center Staff

October Update From Nick DiColandrea, Executive Director

It's fall! And you know what that means: changing leaves, crisp morning air, and pumpkin spice everything! Here at Piedmont Wildlife Center, we're enjoying everything fall has to offer, including the opportunity to serve our homeschool families and after-school students each week in the beautiful outdoors. Still looking for something for the kids to do during school closures? Send them to Piedmont for the day! This time of year is perfect for outdoor breaks from the classroom - and for my staff to take a break from their computers! 

Did you make a bid in our Autumn Adventures Auction yet!? Time is running out to win incredible items and experiences (like “An Evening With The NC Symphony” or a one-of-a-kind painting from Art by Shalimar), all while supporting the great work the staff at Piedmont does day in and day out. We're so thrilled by the local businesses, artists, and friends who donated these items so generously, and I need help not winning them all myself!

As the days shorten outside, I look forward to spending more time inside with the staff, learning more about our organization and our future. The same goes for you - our dedicated supporters. Come on by and visit sometime! I’d love to hear why you love Piedmont and perhaps share in a pumpkin spiced candy corn (Candy Corn love does not represent the views of PWC staff, apparently only me!).

Yours in service, 

Nick DiColandrea (Executive Director)

The Triangle Nonprofit & Volunteer Leadership Center Recognizes Deanna Sedlak as Volunteer of The Week

PICTURED: Deanna Sedlak and Willow

We are thrilled that Deanna Sedlak was recognized by The Triangle Nonprofit and Volunteer Leadership Center as Volunteer of The Week. Deanna has poured so much love, time, and energy into caring for our Ambassador Animals and educating the community on native wildlife. Thank you, Deanna!

From The Triangle Nonprofit & Volunteer Leadership Center:

“Deanna Sedlak began volunteering with Piedmont Wildlife Center (PWC) as an evening (PM) raptor care feeder. When she heard that the Center was in need, Deanna asked to be trained as an AM raptor care feeder, which is much more involved and time consuming. Because her Thursday evenings are devoted to training owls and hawks, she has been able to pick up and drop off PWC’s outreach animals at many events in Durham, Wake, and Chatham counties. She attended ten out of twenty outreach events in 2022 and is one of PWC’s most dedicated outreach volunteers. Deanna brings a sense of confidence, humor, willingness to learn and teach, and community every time she is at the Center or any of its events.”