MEET OUR VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH!
“One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.”
– Henry David Thoreau
I met Collin Schaffer at an outreach event almost two years ago. Approaching our booth, it was a pleasant surprise to see a new face warmly greeting me. He was there with his wife Betsy, and this was their first of many volunteer projects with The Gabriel Foundation.
Both Collin and Betsy had long been fascinated with parrots, and wanted to know as much as possible before taking the big leap into planned parrothood. They met the first bird that would become a part of their lives in May 2008. The lucky bird was Harley Girl, a flirty, well socialized mature and outgoing female Umbrella cockatoo who came to TGF from Wyoming in 2005. During their visits to the Aviary to see Harley Girl, they always made time to visit with Peaches, one of our many Moluccan cockatoos. In July 2008, the Schaffer’s determined that they’d also like to make Peaches a part of their flock.
Since its inception in 1995, TGF has pursued produce donations from local markets and grocers to help us feed the flock. Making the 35-mile roundtrip from his home to the aviary to the local grocery store and back every Monday to sort through donated produce, inventory, prep, bag and store it takes at least 4 hours of Collin’s time. This is a much appreciated service that has a dramatic impact in helping us to lower our fresh produce costs. It helps us use our staff resources to directly provide for the birds, and helps us to reduce our fuel costs because Collin uses his own vehicle for transport.
Many, many thanks to Collin for making such a difference to the parrots of The Gabriel Foundation..
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