SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

We could sure use your help to support Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge's 10,000+ acres.  Purchase a membership, join us for a fundraising event, purchase items from the Nature Store, donate an item listed below, donate land, volunteer your time...There are tons of ways that YOU can help!  Please give us a call at 419-898-0014 x13.
 
****What's this charge on my card??
If you are not sure about a charge on your card for Network for Good, it's probably from helping us! Specific donations, like sponsorships, benefit tickets, or becoming a member are processed through our friends at Network for Good. We use Network for Good to manage these donations. Call us if you have any questions ~ 419-898-0014 x13.

ITEM WISHLIST

Education and Interpretation:
  • ​Help us bring in the birds! Black-oil sunflower seed, niger seed, whole peanuts, and suet cakes
  • Digital Cameras and SD Cards
  • Fishing Tackle, Rods, and Supplies ✓
  • Bird feeders and stands for Wildlife Window ✓
  • Monarch Waystation Signs (Need 5, totaling $124.75)
  • Black Picture frames and white matts (9x12, x10) (13X19, x10) ✓
Visitor Center Maintenance:
  • Batteries
  • Flashlights​
Friends Group Office Supplies:
  • White Copy Paper
  • Office Depot Gift Cards
Friends Group Fundraising Events:
  • Silent Auction Items
  • Door Prizes

EQUIPMENT WISHLIST

Education and Interpretation: 
  • Wheelchair (Used or new!) ✓
  • Outreach banners & displays
    • ​Banner Stand ($332.00)
    • Trade Show Super Set ($1663.00)
  • Canoes (7), Life vests (50- varying sizes), Paddles (50), and a Canoe Trailer to support new programming in 2019
  • Updated AV Equipment for Multipurpose Room ✓
  • Interpretive Tour Bus ($50,000)
  • Tram ($30,000)
  • Vehicle to pull tram ($40,000)
For RV Volunteers:
  • Washer, dryer✓, and utility sink for RV Pads (Used or new!)
General Maintenance:
  • Leafblower
  • Animal-proof trash cans (Need 10 at $1,123/each)
  • Semi to haul heavy equipment ($50,000) ✓
Restoration:
  • 8x20 Greenhouse ($4,199.99)
  • 16x20 Greenhouse ($7,963.99)
Make a donation, make an impact.
Many Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge give beyond their membership dues by volunteering or regularly purchasing items in the Rookery Nature Store. Others go beyond membership by making annual or monthly donations to programs they especially value. It is also possible to make a donation in memory or honor of someone special to you. 
Support refuge volunteers.
The help of volunteers nearly doubles the output of conservation work accomplished at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Volunteers are truly the lifeblood of the refuge.

In order to keep up the great work, the refuge needs more equipment for these volunteers to effectively do their jobs.The Friends recently raised funds to purchase a John Deere 2025 Compact Utility Tractor that volunteers will use to maintain refuge trails. Our goal was to raise $15,000 by the end of 2019 so that the volunteer maintenance crew can start off the 2020 season with the tools they need. We are happy to report that we have raised over $17,000! Additional donations will go towards attachments and upgrades.
Sponsor an intern.
​Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge interns make a huge impact for conservation at your national wildlife refuge. Most interns are college students involved with Biology, Conservation, or Environmental Studies programs. While gaining valuable work experience and assisting refuge staff with projects, refuge interns live and work at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for 13 week terms​. Internship opportunities are offered at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge year-round as funds are available. While the refuge provides free housing for interns, they do not have funds available to pay them for their time.  Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge provides living stipends for interns at a rate of $400 per week for a total of $5,200 per internship. The offer of free housing, a small living stipend while learning about conservation is a huge draw for students across the country.
There is need for a total of six, 13 week intern stipends per year.You can sponsor an intern for $400 a week, or sponsor their entire experience for $5,200. 
Sponsor a field trip.
Teaching children about the environment and why we should value it is a major goal at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge currently brings environmental education programs to about 4,500 students per year from surrounding counties. Unfortunately, many students are missed because their schools just don’t have money for field trips. Each year, Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (FONWR) provides $2,500 towards the cost of transportation grants. There is need for a total of 15 transportation grants per year.

​Please help us teach our next generation to value our environment and how to protect it. Help us teach them to become good stewards of the earth. Please consider sponsoring the visit of one or more classes each year for $250 each. Together, we can make a difference.
Want to help, but not ready to make the $250 contribution? Use the custom amount of $4.80 and set the frequency to "weekly" to make an impact a little bit at a time.
Sponsor the fishing access.
Last fall, we introduced you to three new refuge projects that we are working to fund. With your help, the Helle Unit fishing access point and the Turtle Creek Unit kayak/canoe launch are fully funded, and will be completed soon. Now, we are focusing our efforts on the Visitor Center fishing access point, which will be an accessible youth fishing trail that will provide great opportunities for environmental education at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

Help lay the groundwork for the environmental stewards of tomorrow. 
Donate to improve the Wildlife Drive.

​Some simple improvements would make the Wildlife Drive a more pleasurable experience for all. As resources allow, the refuge staff plan to install more pull-offs in strategic locations allowing you to view wildlife through "windows" in the habitat. The refuge would also like to add interpretive signs in key locations, as well as improved directional signage to help visitors navigate the drive. An early exit is another option that the refuge is working to include in their improvement plan. And, one of the most suggested amenities is also on the refuge's radar... a place to "go" near the midway point!
Donate to improve West Harbor Landing.

West Harbor is a 16 acre parcel that was purchased by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from the Bradley family in 2016. It is located on Catawba Island, about 4 miles east of Port Clinton, Ohio. Much of the acreage is marshland. Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge plans to improve the remaining land to include pollinator habitat and visitor amenities including a gazebo, fishing platform/observation deck, improved canoe/kayak launch, benches, trash/recycling, and signage.
Picture
(c) Steve Bodart
Donate to the Land Acquisition Fund.
​
One of Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge's long term goals is to establish a $500,000 Land Acquisition and Restoration Fund. This fund will allow us to aid the refuge with the purchase of land from willing property owners and restoration of existing refuge parcels from Toledo to the Sandusky Bay. 

If you love federal lands, donate today to help support this worthy cause.