The past year has challenged everyone’s sanity on many fronts. The pandemic shuttered the normal activities of commerce across the globe. Business revenues and personal incomes have crashed for most of us. Nobody’s been exempted from the biological mission of a tiny organism that cares nothing for politics. Getting reliable and trustworthy information about COVID has revealed the chaos in our information sources. Trust in government institutions and many private enterprises has vanished. We won’t know for several months into 2021 if the vaccines will prove effective. The world’s complex supply chains which facilitate our global economy have made their limits obvious. No solutions present themselves, just more trade-offs, which is an overarching reality most do not want to face.
We’ve survived 2020 despite all of our normal revenue streams like school programs, large public events, educational seminars, and our consulting services having essentially dried up. We are still here because of an extremely dedicated corps of members and volunteers. We also have a few members wishing anonymity who have donated significant dollars to keep operations going, and one of our Directors has provided a very generous credit line to ensure sufficient funds are available to keep everything operational through 2021. THF Realty and the Kroenke Group have made a very generous contribution through 2023 by waiving all of our lease payments. We will never be able to express our gratitude enough for this group of people! We wouldn’t be here at all, were it not for what ALL of these folks have contributed, regardless of the level.
However, the reality and persistence of our deadly microscopic foe will not vanish when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. The schools may not reopen for our programs, and some public events which help us raise thousands of dollars are already closed far into 2021. It’s anybody’s guess as to when audiences of any consequential size might be allowed again. Personal finances may shrink even further and all of you can project your own outcomes without much imagination being required.
We, like all charities, are professional beggars. I’ve watched the frequency of newsletters and solicitations of one sort or another increase dramatically via snail mail, and email. One of our Directors reports that some of the major environmental groups have been sending email solicitations almost every hour during the past week. We won’t do that. Our digital news letter, Raptor Chronicles, comes out one to two times per month. We have our usual stuff for sale, and when an urgent need has arisen, like our van, we tell you. At this year’s transition into the next year’s calendar, I know you are all aware that we need your support. We cannot predict what 2021 will bring…it just doesn’t look very optimistic. Please do what you can with the dedicated button below, send us a check or call our office. Our raptor sanctuary relies on your generosity to keep everything alive and well. Thank you so much for supporting us during these most difficult of times for everyone. Peter Reshetniak, Founder