Wildlife In Need Center air conditioners break, donors step up

Donors step up to help wildlife center

After two air conditioner units broke, Wildlife In Need Center needed help to keep things cool inside. Donors quickly stepped up.

WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. - Wildlife In Need Center, a Waukesha County nonprofit that helps injured animals, found itself in a sticky situation after storms earlier this month. 

New problem

The backstory:

The organization helps all types of wildlife animals. But last week, crews experienced a first: soaring indoor temperatures.

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"It was exhausting, working in this room all day long in the heat," said Sara Imperl, wildlife care supervisor.

Kim Banach, the nonprofit's executive director, said one of their four air conditioners stopped working on Aug. 15.

Wildlife In Need Center

"In the avian nursery it was like 84 degrees," she said. "We were putting ice cubes in the baby birds’ water, running fans – trying to do everything we could to keep it cool."

Volunteers pushed through, but on Aug. 18 there was another setback. Banach said the office's air conditioner went out – the same part failing on both units.

Support

Why you should care:

Each unit cools 7,000 square feet in the building, including the wildlife hospital. The center was already swamped after August’s historic storms. Floods and strong winds sent 32 animals to the center in one day alone.

Banach got two new air conditioners but needed help paying for them. She asked the public for donations and, within 36 hours, she said donors gave $30,000.

Wildlife In Need Center

After sweating it out over bills and temperatures, the warm response was welcome.

"It felt like we were getting a big hug from everybody," she said.

What you can do:

Wildlife In Need Shelter is keeping its donation page active; volunteers are always in need of funds for medication, food and more. Visit the organization's website to learn how you can help.