Fundraiser for Tom Ricardi- Birds of Prey _CLOSED

Hello Fellow Bird Lovers -

As you all might know Tom Ricardi is one of our local birds of prey heroes (rehabilitators) here in Massachusetts.  If an injured bird of prey is found it is brought to Tom, or Tom goes to the location to capture the bird.  A lot of what Tom does for these birds comes out of his own pocket.   

If you're local you know Tom, so I won't go too far into details on what he does.  It's simple; he saves birds 24/7/365.  He has many birds that are permanent residents at his home. Those birds are unable to be released back into the wild.  Tom has dedicated his life to birds of prey and to all of our communities through the programs he gives, up and down the valley.  The birds he has permanently are some of the ones he brings to his programs.  His programs are interactive and Tom loves to have the children there to learn, he always has the children up front .  The last program I went to Tom allowed the children to come up at the end and see his 26 year old Screech Owl (photo above).  If you strike up a conversation with him he will stop what he's doing to listen and talk to you. 

Not only do I know Tom, I have been friends with his son Steve for over 20 years.   Steve has even stepped in to help care for the birds, to help his dad out.  As well as his son Tom Jr (who I have not met). 

As most of us know we are in the midst of an eruption of Barred Owls here in Western Mass (as far as I know Eastern Mass and NH as well).  They seem to be everywhere and mostly far too close to roads.  When they are focused on prey they fly from their perch downward towards the prey on the ground, this puts them dangerously too close to cars driving by.  Some have tragic endings, but some make it to Tom for rehabilitation and back into the wild.

I wanted to put out a platform that allows all of us a quick tool to help Tom with our donations.  There is a small fee for using this platform, but it's a pretty small amount (2.9%), which makes this a viable tool.

Let's do our very best to show Tom how much we really appreciate him for all he does for these amazing birds of prey.   Let's be as dedicated to him as he is to the birds. 

A little birdie told me (sorry, I had to!) that since November 2018 Tom has taken in 52 owls!  January alone he took in 19.
If you have any questions please let me know.  Also please feel free to share stories with us.  And most definitely share this fundraiser.

For those who are looking for a little more on who Tom is, this article although from 2011 tells a little more about his history.  https://www.masslive.com/mywideworld/index.ssf/2011/08/the_massachusetts_birds_of_prey_rehab_facility_offering_a_second_chance_at_flight_for_natures_most_m.html

Here's one from 2017:  https://www.recorder.com/Tom-Ricardi-The-Bird-Man-7594902?fbclid=IwAR0Ps2CBoV4HEQ8kl_r1vXyl-O9c6p2YzqLdJ5miTRPLp7FS15t6N9s7quM