Deborah Powell
SHAWVILLE – Local supporters of the project to build a replacement roost for the Chimney Swifts at McDowell school gathered at the CEDEC office on Main Street, March 14, for a celebration of the fundraising campaign.
Deborah Powell
SHAWVILLE – Local supporters of the project to build a replacement roost for the Chimney Swifts at McDowell school gathered at the CEDEC office on Main Street, March 14, for a celebration of the fundraising campaign.
“It comes from the heart,” explained Mary Wood, donator. Wood is the daughter of Dr. S.E. McDowell, in whose honour the elementary school was named. So, in addition to touching her heart as an important environmental project, the campaign is also a family affair!
The campaign has also received attention from regional media, with articles appearing in Le Droit, the Ottawa Citizen and on both the French and English channels of CBC radio. Support has come from as far as France, where Cajun singer/songwriter Zachary Richard posted special pages on his blog providing information about the Swifts and urging people to donate to the campaign. Richard performed a benefit concert years ago in support of École-Secondaire-Sieur-de-Coulonge.
Campaign organizers were surprised to receive an email from the biologist at AECL Chalk River. “We certainly didn’t have them on the list of organizations we are asking support from,” said Claire Charron, co-coordinator for the swift project. “They wanted to encourage us to apply for funding from them. They may have to replace a chimney at their facility that is used by a large number of swifts so they are very interested in our project and have also offered an infra-red camera and temperature logging device for use once the roost is built,” she explained.
Information about the Swifts or the roost replacement project is available at http://goo.gl/PudD76. The campaign runs until April 6.
