聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The Moose Mountain R & R Wildlife Rehabilitation hosted their first annual Moose Mountain Gone Wild fundraising evening on Saturday, Oct. 24, which raised $28,000.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Gathered together at the Red Barn north of Kenosee Lake where approximately 200 people who enjoyed an evening of fun and entertainment, while supporting local efforts.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's mind boggling what the community has done,鈥� Cheryl Winkler, wildlife rehabilitator, exclaimed. The outpouring of support in dinner tickets sold and donated items for the auction, which totalled聽 around 60 silent auction items and 12 live auction items.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hank you all for coming out, I couldn't do this by myself. There is an amazing group of people standing behind me, helping to make this all happen.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As Winkler thanked those in attendance for coming she explained, 鈥淚 can multitask 40 animals at聽 a time on bottles, but I'm a deer in the headlights up here in front of you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the support.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Winkler has been rehabilitating animals for the past 10 years. Moose Mountain Rehabilitation serves the entire southeast corner of the province. The non-profit organization is fully funded through donations and Winkler's artwork that she sells.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Currently Winkler has 34 intakes including three moose, an elk, five hawks, an eagle, raccoons, and more.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 She added that her strangest intake was a mouse, saying, 鈥淚f a person has the compassion to bring the animal to me, I will do my best to get it to where it needs to be.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The evening began at 5 p.m. with cocktails followed by Supper, which included Ben Dubois' famous roast beef. Sherry Moffat and Elaine Roth also put together a phenomenal dessert spread.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Trevor Gowan acted as the evening's MC, while Scott Bryce took on the role of auctioneer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This was followed by entertainment including Chris Byrne, Two Sharps and a Flat, as well as music by Jimmy G and the Cable Guys.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The great support from the community was bolstered by a donation from Enbridge for $5,000 presented to Winkler for the wildlife rehab.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The efforts of the event will be used to help facilitate the rehabilitation of the animals in Winkler鈥檚 care and future intakes.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽鈥淚t's 365 days a year,鈥� Winkler has told The Observer. 鈥淥ur ultimate aim is to release healthy animals and birds back into the wild once they are able to survive in the wild again. That's why we limit human interaction. It's for the animals' protection. I'm the person who does all of the feeding, for that reason.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e give tax receipts for any donation over $20, and we also accept in-kind donations of all types: food, household items such as garbage bags, paper towels, laundry soap and bleach, lumber, newpapers....There's a whole wishlist on our website,聽.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Additionally Winkler adds, 鈥淲e also accept regular meat, game meat and produce. Sometimes people are just cleaning out their fridge or freezer and just drop stuff off that they don't want anymore; but it's still good for us to use.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 While thanking people for their efforts, she included the Carlyle Co-op who has been an amazing support through giving their expired produce, which can still be used by the wildlife rehabilitator.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Overall the evening was a great success, which was enjoyed by all. It was one which Winkler had been worried about, unsure of what the turnout and reception would be like, but one that she was elated with in the end.
