Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation hosting online auction fundraiser

This is the time of year when wildlife specialists have their hands full with migratory birds that are injured on the way south.

Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) is hosting its annual online silent auction to raise funds for the care of injured and orphaned wildlife.

Bidding began on Sept. 16 and closes at 7 p.m. on Sept. 25.

Raelee Barth, AIWC clinic operations manager, said the money raised will support wildlife through the end of the facility’s busy season.

Barth said there are still many patients arriving who are injured in their fall migration.

“We’re just trying to get a little bit more money to help us get through the rest of the year,” she said.

“The money will go toward a lot of different aspects of our patient care, so it’s going to go toward specific foods that they need, medications, a lot of them need different treatments, surgeries, so that’s all really expensive,” she added.

“We also have to get just basic supplies to keep things clean and sterile.”

Demand growing

AIWC relies solely on grants and donations to fund its operations and with wildlife patient admissions increasing each year, fundraising events like the online auction play a vital role in providing life-saving care to thousands of wild animals in need.

In 2025, staff have cared for more than 1,800 injured and orphaned wildlife and that’s more animals than it treated in all of 2024.

“We still have a lot of our baby patients from throughout the summer here,” said Barth.

“We still have some ducklings, bear cubs, our deer fawns we raised this year - but then additionally, because of migration, we have a lot of other species coming through, we have a lot of different hawks, bat species, songbirds that are all here just for a short period of time, so we’re also having to try to rush and get them healed up as fast as we can, so that they can get out in time to finish their migration.”

The auction, which has close to 80 items listed, has a fundraising goal of $15,000.

“We’re really, really lucky that so many people stepped up and donated items to us,” said Barth.

“There’s different experiences, things you can have at home, a very wide variety, so we’re kind of hoping that no matter who you are, there’ll be something you’ll be interested in.”

Helping orphaned animals

Demerese Cooper is a longtime supporter of AIWC, personally and through her business.

She’s an artisan who makes wax canvas and leather bags through her company called Sparrow Handmade. For the first time, she’s donating one of her hand-crafted bags for the auction.

“There’s so many injured and orphaned animals in Alberta every year - thousands,” she said.

“The fact that there’s somebody there to look after them, I’m so grateful to them for that and I’m honoured that they reached out to me to see if I would donate one of my hand-crafted bags.”

Cooper’s clients come from around the world, with a portion of every sale donated to AIWC

She’s hopeful her auction item will fetch more than $250.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” she said.

“The animals win, AIWC wins, the makers win, it supports the local economy, so yeah, I can’t say anything negative about it. I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for everybody.”

Learn more about the auction here.