Carolynn Parke: 1950 to 2006 FLAP grieves the loss of co-founder Carolynn Parke on January 17, 2006 from a brain tumor at age 55. As board member, mentor, volunteer rescuer and researcher regarding rehabilitation of FLAP's birds, Carolynn excelled in profound ways. She donated both time and resources according to the need of the birds, and her over-riding love and care for all wilderness dwellers was reflected in the superb survival rates of her patients at FLAP's WINGSPREAD Songbird Recovery Centre. Carolynn's empathy meshed with her growing expertise when working to rescue and rehabilitate FLAP's birds, enhancing both the birds' return to health and her own knowledge base. She made it possible for many birds, saved between 1988 and 2005, to continue their journeys and create new families. Awareness that most of our migratory species are diminishing in population makes her work even more significant as a conservation issue.

Carolynn used Western and homeopathic treatments together, as helpful to the birds, recognizing that homeopathy is often a gentler method of treatment than traditional approaches, and can complement them when both are used together. In order to determine their effectiveness in terms of survival and bird comfort during the many stresses of migration, she documented each "case" meticulously. Carolynn recognized the need for FLAP's birds to receive immediate and holistic rehabilitation. For this reason, she created a bird-friendly, adaptive rehabilitation centre in her own home, which she built outside of Pickering so that an outdoor aviary could be built to complete the birds' care and provide confirmation that they do, in fact, survive collisions after treatment and release. Despite the fact that she had created the centre largely on her own, WINGSPREAD was named, not by herself, but by votes from the membership of FLAP itself. This is a powerful tribute to her generosity and consideration of others. Carolynn's countless gifts of innumerable efforts at bird rescue, program support, mentorship with new volunteers, work as President and Board Director, leadership during the training of new volunteers, liaison with veterinarian Dr. Janet Sawyer, research, and record-keeping will live on and be used for years to come as invaluable gifts to our birds and our organization. The Carolynn Parke Memorial Fund has been established to enable FLAP to continue to honour her legacy by extending her efforts at rehabilitation and research on behalf of our birds. To donate to the Carolynn Parke Memeorial Fund visit CanadaHelps by clicking on the button below. Your donation will be processed by CanadaHelps.org, a not-for-profit organization that facilitates on-line donations through a secure site. All of your donation (less credit card charges) will be transferred to the Fatal Light Awareness Program for bird conservation. You may also send cheques to: FLAP Royal Bank Plaza Lower Concourse PO Box 20 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5J 2J1 All donations are tax-deductible. Tax receipts will be issued once a year at year's end. Please note: with each donation you will receive 2 issues per year of FLAP's newsletter Touching Down. If you would rather donate on a one-time basis and not receive our newsletter, or if this is a gift donation, please indicate so in the comments section, or email us at flap@flap.org.