OCCRA exists because of volunteers. Full stop.
Late nights, long drives, muddy hillsides, awkward fences, blackberries, all of it… you show up. Over and over again.
We got to recognize a handful of folks this year, but this really represents all of you.
Fern — for building out wildlife education and creating a free program for schools. That kind of outreach matters more than people realize.
Eleni — for responding to SIX+ bald eagle calls (what?!) and everything you do in the education and conservation world.
Scotty — 12+ owls in like 6 months… and somehow also stepping into President of our Board and just… hitting the ground running.
Abe — our tech rescue wizard. If it involves ropes, weird terrain, or chaos… Abe shows up calm, collected, and probably cracking a joke.
Nikki — a full year of onboarding volunteers (which is a job in itself), while volunteering, working full time, caring for her own animals… and now our Vice President. Unreal.
Kari & Ray — our super team.
Ray quietly grinding away on backend data that is going to shape OCCRA’s future in a big way.
Kari out here writing grants, running calls (often far, often late), and supporting multiple orgs. Absolute power duo.
Manon — one of our highest responders. Solo, at night, in the worst conditions, any species, any situation. Just gets it done.
Annette — constant responder, mentor, teacher. The kind of person showing others how to do this work safely and well. Also one of our quiet superstars behind the scenes.
Amber — built out huge parts of our training and dispatch systems. The amount of time and brainpower that went into that… massive.
Lexi — bouncing between the Bird Alliance care center and OCCRA calls like it’s nothing. Calm, skilled, and one of those people you want on scene and training new folks.
Gerta — hundreds and hundreds of hours on the phones. Keeping things moving, supporting callers and volunteers, also helping BAO… truly one of our behind-the-scenes heroes.
Frank — shows up for everything. Any species, any time. And one of OCCRA’s biggest cheerleaders. Watching your growth in this work has been really, really cool.
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THANK A VOLUNTEER TODAY! THEY ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF RESCUE. THEY ARE WHY WE WORK AND ARE HERE FOR ALL OF YOU 24/7/365!
And to the rest of the team — because thi is not just these names — thank you.
You are the reason animals get a second chance.
You are the reason our community has somewhere to call.
You are the reason this whole thing works.
We couldn’t do this without you. Not even close.

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