Hello! My name is Sarah Elfers, I will be a senior at The Ohio State University this coming fall and I have been given the amazing opportunity to work with the Ohio Wildlife Center as my host site for the 2019 Columbus Fellowship Program. I am getting a degree in Marketing with two minors in Nonprofit Management and Human and Animal Interactions, so this opportunity is perfect for me!

My first week has gone by very quickly while I have been getting to know everyone and getting settled into my own role. Everyone has been very welcoming and I have already learned so much! I will be primarily working with the development team on photography and social media management, as well as additional day-to-day tasks I can help with.

The grounds of the Ohio Wildlife Center are beautiful, complete with an administration building (where my desk is), Bonner Barn event space, Pre-release facility for injured wildlife, trails and ponds for education and wildlife camps, and so much more! I was given a tour my first day and am thankful this opportunity gives me the chance to enjoy the summer weather. The grounds used to belong to a family, and our administration building has even been converted from their home to our office space!

The mission of Ohio Wildlife Center “is dedicated to fostering awareness and appreciation of Ohio’s native wildlife through rehabilitation, education and wildlife health studies.”  I have always been passionate about helping animals, and I hope that I can make an impact in the lives of animals during my time here through marketing our mission via various social media and marketing outlets. I was able to capture a few photos at the Pre-Release Facility. Here’s one:

Reflecting on my first week at Ohio Wildlife Center, I realize that I will have to be flexible and work with a variety of people and departments during my time here. Working for a smaller nonprofit sometimes means rolling up your sleeves and doing what needs to be done for the success of the organization, and I am happy to lend a hand wherever I am needed. The staff and volunteers here are hard-working and driven. Although there are outside forces that can slow the progression of projects, the staff and volunteers work hard to get things moving as fast as they can. The center operates with only two full-time staff members, the rest are part-time or retirees passionate about our mission.

My favorite part about the week was visiting our Wildlife Hospital, which is about six miles from the education center and administration buildings. I will continue to visit the hospital twice a week to capture photos of wildlife dropped off by the public and get their stories of rehabilitation to share with donors and other stakeholders. While I was there, I talked with staff and volunteers about daily tasks, including feeding bird fledglings every 30 minutes! The hospital admits over 5,000 animals annually, so they are very busy! They rely heavily on volunteers and do great work around the clock for Ohio’s wildlife. It was very inspiring to see how well the animals are cared for and how passionate the staff is. I took a myriad of photos, but only grabbed this one on my phone (cute, right?)

I am excited to fall more into my role and get my projects off the ground in the coming weeks. I look forward to all of the things I am going to learn here this summer.