My Nonprofit Reviews

I cannot begin to describe how much I love OCBPC, but I will try. I began volunteering with the center about 2 years ago and it quickly became my second home. The people were so ridiculously warm and inviting and it was one of the first workplaces where I felt truly accepted as an individual, with my disabilities and all. This was my first experience with raptors and working hands-on with wildlife, and all of the leads were patient with me, teaching me more about bird of prey husbandry, conservation, education, and behavior every week. I feel like I’ve grown so much, not only as a caretaker and educator, but as a person, in my time at the OCBPC. I’ve helped with cleaning, husbandry, booth events, releases, talks, medical treatments, and training, and I’ve loved every second of it. I’ve found a lifelong passion for raptors and wildlife rehabilitation and hope to make it my career one day. More specifically, I want to thank Joanne, the director of administration, and Harmonie, the director of husbandry, from the bottom of my heart. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to work closely with and be mentored by both of these women. Joanne is an absolute delight to be around and has let me accompany her to a variety of education events where we work together and cheer each other on and teach people of all ages about raptors and their conservation. Harmonie is one of the kindest, most wonderful souls I’ve ever met and has taken me under her wing every week to learn all about the rehabilitation side of OCBPC, instructing and encouraging me. I feel honored to even know both of these people, let alone get to learn from them. As time has passed and new volunteers have joined us, I’ve continued to love the community of people and everything we are working toward together. I wholeheartedly believe in our mission of ensuring a healthy population of raptors for generations to come, and I look forward to continuing to being a part of this organization for the rest of my life.