Poplars down – #GivingTuesday 2016 update

Oiy vey! Repairs…

If you own a car, a house, vacation property, land, or many other items, then you know all to well about the need for periodic maintenance and the unexpected maintenance! It’s not sexy, but necessary. Unexpected maintenance almost always happens at an inconvenient time. In my family (Linette) we call that “Murphy!”

The SOAR ‘hawk building’ has been on the property since 2000. Most ‘pole buildings’ need little structural maintenance, but the hawk building is no longer an ordinary pole building! There are seven flight rooms with barred windows to let in fresh air (there were eight, but one has been remodeled with a door and double-hung windows). The eagle flight pen has five barred windows. While these modified windows are perfect for rehabilitating raptors… the vertical bars sometime need repaired. Opaque roof panels have been used in each flight room and the big hallway in the building to let in natural light. These can sometimes crack and / or leak. If you don’t repair these right away or don’t notice the leak… lumber in the roof and top of the side wall can be compromised.

As plans were made to build the weathering area for Decorah’s new digs, it was recommended that the poplar trees first be removed for safety reasons. Have you tried to get on a tree trimming business’ schedule? Early November the trees along the south side of the hawk building were removed.

Several of the 10′ x 20′ flight rooms needed some attention to the vertical bars and where the rafters meet the outside wall. As flight rooms became empty, these repairs were made in late summer and early fall.

All told this needed maintenance cost roughly $4,000 in materials and labor. They’re paid for, but that trimmed the bank account as winter is about to arrive.

Our goal for #GivingTuesday 2016 is to replace these funds in the bank that were originally intended to be for the purchase of quality food and needed medical supplies and expenses.

None of this is sexy… all of it is necessary to work towards our three-fold mission of raptor rehabilitation, education, and research.

P.S. We also would like to grow our monthly donor base by at least 5 new monthly donors! Details about the many ways to support SOAR can be found here.