Our History and Founder
Volunteers For Wildlife is a non-profit, volunteer organization, founded in 1982 and dedicated to preserving Long Island, New York’s wildlife and natural habitats.
In 1982 Volunteers for Wildlife was founded by 3 visionary ladies, Sallie Ruppert, Joyce DeGeorge, and Marilyn Forman, who cared about the environment and the wild creatures that share it with us. They recognized that, in this shared Long Island environment, the condition of wildlife and its habitat is a leading indicator for quality of human life. The objectives of the non-profit were simple, "To promote public awareness of wildlife needs and preservation of Long Island's natural habitat through wildlife rehabilitation, education programs, community outreach, and wildlife advisory services."
In its first year of existence, Volunteers for Wildlife established the first comprehensive Wildlife Advisory Telephone (WAT) network in the East. The network has proven to be a successful method for helping the public deal with wildlife problems, and has been used as a model for similar groups around the country. Over the years, the public response to the WAT has been tremendous, in 2002 for example the number of calls exceeded 13,000. Many calls result in an animal being rescued and then transported to a cooperating veterinarian, a wildlife rehabilitator, or to our own hospital.
The heart of our organization is the spirit of volunteerism. Over 200 volunteers work on a variety of tasks from rescue/transport and animal care to gardening, building maintenance, and office administrative work. In a typical year, we refer 2,500 injured animals to cooperating veterinarians.
In 1988, after 6 years of nomadic existence, Volunteers for Wildlife negotiated a long-term agreement to use an historic barn at Caumsett State Historic Park. There, Long Island's first comprehensive wildlife rehabilitation and education center was established. For the next 14 years, Sallie Ruppert directed and participated in day to day operations of the organization. This included everything from performing rescue/transport and rehabilitation, through delivering conservation and preservation education programs, to answering the wildlife advisory telephone hotline. In addition to these tasks, which addressed the central mission of Volunteers for Wildlife, Sallie recruited and trained volunteers, wrote training manuals, solicited grants and donations, conducted membership campaigns and organized fundraising events. On another level Sallie coordinated the efforts of 75 cooperating veterinarians, managed 4-6 staff members and 200 volunteers. When there was spare time in her typical 60 hour work week Sallie would fill it with painting and other building maintenance tasks.
At the end of 2002, Sallie retired after serving for more than 20 years as Executive Director of Volunteers for Wildlife. In that position she worked over 2,600 volunteer hours per year, for a 20 year total in excess of 52,000 hours of volunteer service. Her leadership involvement in habitat preservation and wildlife rehabilitation goes back another 20 years to 1961 in the Huntington Audubon Society.
Sallie's husband Charlie is second only to Sallie in the number of volunteer hours worked. Charlie has been the resident carpenter, plumber, gardener, shopper, and transportation system all in one. He tries hard to maintain his crusty old man image, but his twinkling eyes and a grin he won't stay hidden keeps giving him away.
It is our hope that Volunteers for Wildlife will continue to develop as a resource for wildlife rehabilitators throughout New York State and beyond. There are plans to expand our capabilities in both wildlife rehabilitation and education as we begin moving to a new building in the Fuch's Pond Preserve in Northport. Our current staff makes every effort to expand the organization's knowledge base, through attending state and national rehabilitation conferences, as well as individually pursuing information relating to veterinary medicine, ecology, and the natural histories of all species admitted to our hospital.
Of course, none of our past or future endeavors would be possible without the support of donations from the general public, members, and volunteers. As such, we encourage you to help us continue our mission by joining our organization.