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Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society volunteers: Together, we are MARS

You name it; Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS) volunteers do it!
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Dave Steininger brings sunshine to every volunteer shift, whether he’s washing kennels, planting flowers or feeding the animals.

You name it; Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS) volunteers do it!

MARS volunteers are people with caring spirits who provide care, treatment and rehabilitation for patients, clean cages, do loads of laundry, build enclosures for the ever-growing number of wildlife in care, guide visitors through our exhibits and on tours around the property, handle our ambassador birds, drive great distances to transport patients to our wildlife hospital and home again after recovery, remove invasive species to restore native habitat on our property, maintain our buildings and roads and raise meal worms to feed patients.

Volunteers raise funds for patient care by maintaining four regional parks, collecting cans and bottles for recycling and donation boxes from various locations, and work in the gift shop selling beautiful volunteer-made handiwork.

You may know something about MARS because volunteers tell our patients’ stories on Facebook, the MARS website and Instagram or media contacts, newspaper columns and in-house updates.

During the past year, volunteers worked through a pandemic to take in 1,421 patients at the MARS wildlife hospital and welcome more than 10,000 people to our visitor centre.

The volunteers profiled here represent the 120 or more people who each day quietly go about the work of fulfilling the MARS mission.

Together we are MARS.

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Dean Melsness is an artist; his creations can be found all over the property. He is also much appreciated for his building and maintenance skills.
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Jan Smith (right) leads by doing with energy and enthusiasm, supporting other volunteers in our education work, restoration of native plants on the property and managing our growing organization. Here she is leading a group tour at the facility.
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Kayla Williams assists with medical tasks and treatments at the MARS hospital. Her gentle approach is appreciated by the wildlife patients. Here she is tube-feeding a heron, with assistance from Isaac, another MARS volunteer.
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Simone Kiltz enjoys caring for the larger bird species in the MARS flight pens. The ambassador eagles, Hyacinth and Humpty, keep her busy with their goofy antics.