Custom proposal created for ULINE
Providing rehabilitative care to thousands of injured, orphaned, and sick native wildlife each year.
Sustaining our impact
NOW & FOREVER CAMPAIGN
This visionary investment in the John & Carol Walter Nature Experience serves as the seed for the Now & Forever Campaign: The Campaign to Protect Our Quality of Life. The campaign is chaired by board member H. Thomas Watkins, with John and Carol serving as honorary chairs Launched in 2025, it is the Conservancy’s most ambitious effort ever, with a $70 million goal. More than half of that goal has already been secured, laying the groundwork to sustain the Conservancy’s vital science, environmental policy, education, and wildlife rehabilitation programs and the people who power them.
STRENGTHENING CORE INITIATIVES
With your support, we will meet the moment by endowing critical programs within the four departments that shape our identity and protect our quality of life in the five-county region:
SCIENCE & RESEARCH, providing impartial, objective research to develop realworld solutions to conserve, manage, and restore our natural ecosystems.
POLICY & ADVOCACY, as we steward smart growth in our region, balancing conservation with economic health
ENDOWMENT IS ESSENTIAL
EDUCATION, including on-site activities for all ages as well as school programs for PreK12 students afterschool offerings, summer programs, internships, and our mobile classroom.
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WILDLIFE
REHABILITATION, and the von Arx Widlife Hopital, which treats 4,000 orphaned, sick, and injured native birds, mammals, and reptiles each year.
From a long-term fiscal perspective, nothing is more important than growing our endowment. Only then can the Conservancy move from a point of future vulnerability to future strength.
Currently, only about 20% of our annual operating revenues come from endowment, compared to 50% or more at many leading nonprofits This leaves us overly dependent on year-to-year fundraising.
This campaign will create an endowment that secures one-third of our annual operating budget, ensuring long-term stability. The remaining two-thirds will rely on annual giving to deliver conservation results year after year.
Healing wildlife, protecting ecosystems
The von Arx Wildlife Hospital is the only wildlife rehabilitation center in Collier County, serving as a vital safety net for native animals affected by human activities and environmental changes Each year, roughly 3,500 sick, injured, or orphaned patients arrive due to injuries like vehicle strikes, fishing line entanglements, window collisions, habitat disruption, or disease. From redtailed hawks and bald eagles to bobcats, gopher tortoises, and bats, every animal is treated with a single goal: stabilize, recover, and return them to their natural ecosystem where they play an essential role in maintaining biodiversity and balance
Conservation as a connected system
Effective conservation outcomes emerge when science, policy, and wildlife rehabilitation function as a connected system. Without the Policy team protecting wetlands, wildlife corridors, and critical habitat, released animals would return to fragmented landscapes with limited critical resources Without the Conservancy’s scientists tracking, researching, and removing Burmese pythons, they would reenter environments where invasive predators threaten native species. The hospital is where these efforts converge, restoring injured animals while our other programs safeguard the conditions necessary for their survival.
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A first-response team
The von Arx Wildlife Hospital operates like a trauma unit. A single case can require urgent collaboration across multiple agencies, such as stabilizing an injured bobcat or arranging short-notice care for a baby fawn The team must also anticipate emerging threats over longer periods When avian flu became a concern, the hospital implemented screening, quarantine procedures, and care safeguards to protect incoming patients as well as animals already in treatment, ensuring rehabilitation could continue without compromising health or safety.
Growing regional need
As outward development plans accelerate across Southwest Florida, the demand for emergency wildlife care and rehabilitation continues to increase. The von Arx Wildlife Hospital provides the professional capacity and expertise needed to respond when native species are harmed, giving them a viable chance to recover and return to the wild.
von Arx Wildlife Hospital Expansion Proposal
The von Arx Wildlife Hospital is central to the Conservancy’s mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured and orphaned wildlife. As patient numbers and care demands continue to rise, the current facility no longer provides the space needed for efficient, safe operations
A focused expansion of approximately 590 square feet will resolve key space constraints and strengthen the hospital’s long term capacity.
Project Improvements Include:
Relocated and ventilated laundry operations
Shared office space for veterinary leadership
Flexible workstations for rehabilitation staff
Dedicated volunteer space
Improved circulation and workflow
A Personal Opportunity
ULINE has an opportunity to make an immediate and lasting impact by providing the equipment needed to furnish the expanded von Arx Wildlife Hospital. Your in-kind support will equip our veterinarian, wildlife rehabilitators, and volunteers with the tools they need to provide lifesaving care for thousands of injured, orphaned, and sick native animals each year.
Impact
Your in-kind donation will help create a modern, fully equipped Wildlife Hospital that enables our team to provide exceptional care and give more wildlife a second change to return to the wild.
