A young raccoon is fed and weighed at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington
By Lauren Salcedo, Arlington Times
ARLINGTON — The Sarvey Wildlife Care Center has already faced a budget shortfall this year and now, in their busiest season, they face a shortage of another sort — volunteers.
In late April, hundreds of Comcast volunteers helped to complete a list of projects that Sarvey had struggled to complete with a sudden lack of regular volunteers.
“They did landscaping and dug up a bunch of overgrown areas,” said Suzanne West, director. “They planted us a garden so we have things out there growing for our animals — herbs, broccoli — that we can feed to our rabbits and squirrels.”
Comcast employees also helped by painting the center’s education building, while children washed vehicles and windows.
“It seemed like every time I turned around they were doing something to help,” said West. “I love the idea that employers in the area are giving their employees a day off to go volunteer. We are really in need of volunteers right now. We have the lowest numbers we’ve ever had at the start of the season. Right now we have about 30 regular volunteers, and we need about 100. We appreciate anyone who can come volunteer, whether for a whole day or a shift once a week. We need the help.”
The spring and early summer season means that the wildlife center receives an influx of injured or orphaned animals. It’s their busiest time of the year — now they have more work and less workers.
“I think that a lot of it has to do with the economy,” said West. “We just lost a couple of our regular volunteers because they got jobs.”
Jane Towle works for Seattle Specialty Insurance in Everett, and her company gave her and other employees a day off for volunteer service.
“They let us have one day off a year to volunteer for whatever cause you’d like to,” said Towle, who spent her first volunteering experience helping Sarvey Wildlife. “This is my first experience here. It’s very nice. I would love to come back and volunteer more regularly.”
For information on volunteering at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center email volunteering@sarveywildlife.org.