After all the bad news about Whooping Cranes and their human caretakers — the shooting death of an adult female, the vandalism at the Operation Migration hangar, and the recent crash-landing of the top-cover Cessna in a farm field in southern Illinois — it's time for a bit of good news.
The TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, a Canadian organization that funds local environmental projects, has announced that it is donating $15,000 to Operation Migration to help repair the destruction at its hangar caused by vandals. At the time news of the break-in was announced, lead pilot and co-founder Joe Duff said it could cost $20,000 to replace the four ultralight wings that were damaged.
The gift will go a long way toward helping OM overcome the senseless break-in and vandalism.
Mary Desjardins, executive director of the foundation, says she and her colleagues read about the vandalism in the Toronto Star a few days ago and decided to act.
"We were moved by the story, and we wondered who would do such a thing," she says. "We were familiar with the organization and the important work that they do, so we wanted to reach out and contribute. And we're also hoping to raise the profile of Operation Migration so that perhaps other funding organizations will help out."
In recent years, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation has donated to other non-profits that focus on birds, including Bird Studies Canada and Medicine River Wildlife Centre in central Alberta.
If you'd like to do your part for the cranes and pilots, donate to Operation Migration's Give a Whoop! campaign, which celebrates the group surpassing 10,000 miles of flying with cranes. -- Matt Mendenhall, Associate Editor
Photo: An ultralight flies with Whooping Cranes at Necedah NWR. Photo by Matt Mendenhall
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