Exelon Employees Kick Off National Volunteer Week with Chicago Conservation
On April 10th, SCA teamed up with national supporter Exelon to kick off National Volunteer Week with hands-on service at Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago.
Since 2012, Exelon has supported SCA’s urban initiatives for youth in Chicago and Philadelphia. This January, Exelon and SCA renewed the partnership, bringing Exelon’s total investment in local conservation up to $600,000 resulting in summer employment for over 1,000 youth.
This week, Exelon employees joined SCA youth leaders at Garfield Park Conservatory to learn about the importance of bird conservation from Annette Prince of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (a volunteer program operating under the auspices of the Chicago Audubon Society). Annette, who got her first experience with bird conservation through an SCA internship at Point Reyes National Seashore, described the many challenges facing migratory birds traveling through the maze of Chicago’s skyscrapers, and her team’s efforts to rescue and rehabilitate injured birds.
Then employee volunteers and families set to work alongside SCA youth leaders to assemble over 700 bird rescue kits to be distributed to businesses throughout the Chicago area. In addition, they built bird boxes to provide new habitat for the spring nesting season.
Some young volunteers were so inspired by the project that they asked to take their newly-built bird boxes home to support habitat in their own backyards. “I hope everyone learned a few things they can take away too,” said director Annette Prince. “Many of these songbird species fly thousands of miles each year, and they need all the help they can get on this amazing journey. Thank you for helping us help the birds!”
Big thanks to Exelon employees for the hard work this weekend, and to Exelon for continuing support of SCA urban youth initiatives!
Read more about Exelon’s partnership with SCA.
