I have a personal story that I would like to share with you. One day I received a call from a young girl who had found an injured bird in her backyard. I asked her to bring it in, but she couldn’t since she was too young to drive and her father refused to. She was sobbing, so I asked her to put her father on the phone. I told him “Sir, please foster the compassion, care, and love in your daughter. You are going to need it when you are older and in need of care yourself.” He and his daughter brought the bird in and he thanked us for being here. I strongly believe that the relationship and bond between this father and daughter was strengthened. My experience is not unique; each of our staff has similar stories to tell.

Jamison stopped his bike ride through Lester Park to help our Board members, Rex & Elda, save a fawn that had fallen down a cliff.

As one of the founders, and acting director of Wildwoods for the past six years, Wildwoods has taught me a lot about compassion and kinship, and I have received more from Wildwoods than I have given to it. Humanitarian author, Gregory Boyle, writes, “It’s connection and kinship that ultimately heals people.”

Wildwoods has taught me how people come together for a common cause. Under 10% of our income comes from people who bring injured or orphan animals to us. Imagine that 90% of our income comes from individuals who did not directly seek our services! I have learned how interconnected we are to one another, and how people go above and beyond their immediate needs to give a helping hand. Even if they have never found an injured or orphaned wild animal, they want to be sure we are here for those that do. It is heartwarming to see the connection people have to our mission and to animals they have never had direct contact with.

Our mission goes above and beyond providing medical care for individual animals in need. Our mission states, “To promote the understanding, appreciation, and well-being of wildlife and the world we share through compassion, care, and community involvement.” Wildwoods is a sanctuary, not only for the patients, but more importantly for the kind-hearted people who are in need of help. Almost every person who walks through the door thanks us for being here. Compassion for both people and animals is why we are here.

We have come a long way since we started doing Wildlife Rehabilitation in 2006. Back then, our facility consisted of a spare bathroom in our home, and we only cared for a handful of patients. We never imagined that Wildwoods would grow into the organization it has become today, serving all of Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

With your help, we were able to support our community for another year. As we are more established and people have become aware of us, the need for our services has gone up drastically. We are on track to help 1,800 patients in 2018, an increase of 10% over the previous year. We have accomplished this solely on your support, and that of the community, as we do not receive any financial assistance from city, state, or federal entities. The range of our compassionate community is extensive. People have brought patients to us from as far away as Moorhead to the west, International Falls to the north, Pine City to the south and Bayfield to the east. We served 30 counties in 2018 and have become the second largest wildlife rehabilitation center in Minnesota.

The staff, interns and volunteers at Wildwoods have also taught me a lot about self-sacrifice. I am so grateful to all of them; from the volunteers who show up regularly to care for orphans and those who take time out of their busy schedules to transport patients, to the interns who spend their summer working alongside our staff. And I am so grateful to the Wildwoods staff who not only work so hard to serve our patients, but who also volunteer a significant amount of time after-hours to planning and running education and fundraising events, making sure the office runs smoothly, and helping one another on their days off. We have a compassionate team who dedicates their time for a common cause.

I am taking this opportunity to thank everyone who has come together to support Wildwoods. We are thriving thanks to you! We have come a long way, and there is more need. Wildwoods is still in its infancy. It was only seven years ago that we became a non-profit, and only three years ago that we moved out of a basement of a house to our new location. I whole-heartedly believe that with the on-going support from our community, we will be able to help even more animals and evolve more compassion in our community. Wishing you all Happy Holidays and many blessings in the New Year!

Happy Holidays,
Farzad Farr, Executive Director