The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota provides
quality medical care and rehabilitation for all injured,
sick and orphaned wildlife, and shares its knowledge
with the people who care about them.

There are lots of ways you can become involved with WRC. One of the most obvious is by helping us with the day-to-day care of our patients. Without hundreds of volunteers, we would not be able to care for more than 8,500 animals every year. You can make a difference in the life of a wild animal!

If you're interested in physically helping us care for the animals, you have a choice of:

volunteering (either year-round or in our seasonal nurseries)

or applying for an internship.

If you're not able to come to the Center on a regular basis, or want to help in some other way than animal care, there are additional ways to help us:

Licensed Orphan Outreach Volunteers

We need volunteers for our Orphan Outreach Program. These volunteers are licensed rehabbers who provide round-the-clock care to patients who need more feedings than we can provide at the Center (like the orphaned red squirrel above right). To become a licensed rehabber, you'll work with the state's DNR in preparing for a test and a home inspection. Once licensed, we'll provide you with the materials you need (baskets for housings, food, syringes, etc.) and pair you with another WRC OOPs volunteer who will act as a mentor. If you'd like to learn more, visit the DNR site on how to obtain your license.

Collecting and Providing Items for Nursery Patients

We go through, literally, tons of newspaper every year. We use the black and white, non-gloss portions to line animal cages. In our Avian Nursery the newspaper pieces are trimmed to neatly fit inside the bird's cages. We'll go through more than 200 of these trimmed sheets every day from late April to late August.

A great scouts project: collecting, trimming and dropping off these newspaper cage liners saves us money and staff time.

Large Basket Size: 9" x 13.5"

Small Basket Size: 7.5" x 11.25"

Please collect the trimmed liners in a handled, paper bag (like a grocery bag) or in a cardboard office paper box (that reams of paper come in) and deliver when they are at least 2/3 full.

Donating Items We Can Use