Help wanted with grant writing to make this dream come true.............

Mission Statement:       To understand who we are you must first know our Mission...

Our mission is to positively impact the environment while educating Hawaii’s children about their place in the natural world. Our goal is to assist in the development of an environmentally responsible generation of youth. We teach about the fragile ecosystem we impact on a daily basis, while giving visitors a rare chance to see the animals up close. Native animals brought to us with injuries are cared for and released when able. Our resident animals live out their natural lives at the facility.

There is no other facility like ours anywhere in Hawaii. We care for all native species, from all islands, provide advise and support to veterinarians on all islands, train other rehabilitators on all islands, and train Humane Society staff. For the past nine years now we have rehabilitated Hawaii’s native and endangered species and cared for those exotic creatures already within the State who needed a safe refuge on our five-acre site. Our barn, hospital, aviaries, wetlands and fields serve a wide variety of animals.

We do not have general hours where we are open to the public since this facility is the animals’ home and because it would be detrimental to our rehabbing patients. We do offer educational tours for both adults and children. The animals own the facility, which we have set up in trust so that it will continue long after we are gone.

We are the only accredited Sanctuary in Hawaii (by The Association of Sanctuaries) and are fully licensed by USF&W Service and State agencies.

We have done the most we can with what we have and are now learning that we could do so much more. Teachers all over the Big Island even those from Oahu and Maui now book our programs but there is just no place where the students can actually see all of the specimens we have or experience the hands on education possible in one set up classroom. I take some of the specimens on the road in our educational programs now but only a fraction of what we have collected are ever seen, or touched. The USF&W Service National Repository has agreed to send us priceless animal specimens with which to teach natural history.

Our dream is to create a simple classroom/museum building which would allow our specimens to be kept for static display and more detailed scientific education to be taught (microscopes and lab). The animals provide us with opportunities for scientific education both in life and in death. A teaching workspace, tools and equipment would allow for necropsies and specimen recovery in dead creatures.

This single room educational facility will allow school children from Hawaii of all ages and adults to be taught onsite. The classroom programs would be available to teachers of all schools. This would include kindergarten through high school as well as college level students. As with all of our programs, all public and private schools would be welcomed.

The plans are drawn and just today came back with County permits. Work on the pad will begin next week.

In-service programs for local agencies (Humane Society, Police and Fire Departments) would be taught onsite as well as the current After school mentoring and educational classes for youth could take place in this one facility safe from rainy weather.

 Currently:

·        Our educational programs for young people (classroom and mentoring) are receiving statewide and National notice. We are now featured in the 2007 Hawaiian Airlines holiday issue, were filmed for Living Local (to be aired in April) and are being filmed for KHON news this coming week.

·        So far, in our classroom series by March 2008 we will have taught over 6,400 children about the fragile ecology and delicate balance of the islands (for free).

·        Over 3,000 people per month view our award winning web site. www.threeringranch.org

·        Our outreach educational programs are regularly requested for public events. (libraries, schools, shopping centers)

·        One of our education publications has been selected by the Humane Society of the United States as an instructional hand out. Other published materials are used as behavioral evaluation tools in shelters Statewide.

·        We have consistently published at least two articles per year in animal care journals. The latest will help humanitarian efforts worldwide and has been accepted into The Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation.

·        Getting into one of our residential internships for vet students and pre-vets is quite competitive. We are affiliated with UC Davis and UC Berkeley and our students are given credit for summer externships where they learn wildlife care, animal behavior and communication and participate in many hands on procedures. We have 100% success at getting our students into veterinary programs.

·        Our sub-permittees are located on all areas of the Big Island and we are expanding to train qualified rehabbers on other islands to better serve wildlife. We partner with local agencies in caring for all of the creatures of Hawaii.

·        Our volunteer staff are a resource to other agencies for statewide wildlife care and management. Over the years, we have served DLNR by providing night, weekend and vacation coverage for wildlife calls.

·        Several species we have cared for have been “firsts” for a rehabber. Much of our care has been filmed and documented for science and future educational use.

·         We are the designated hoary bat rehab and rescue point for the Big Island. The only facility to ever have returned a hoary bat to the wild.

·        The Hawaii County Council and the Hawaii State Legislature are now supporting the animal and educational work with do with 2007 budget year funding animal feed and wildlife rehabilitation.

Another long standing dream of the Curator and Board of Directors has been to videotape the classroom series, edit it into a series of tapes that along with course curriculum making them available free of charge to teachers all over the country. An excellent partnership has already been established with the award winning Interact club of Kealakehe High School. Working with these high school students in the video production classes, we could create images that would then be used to share the animals with children who were not able to physically visit the Sanctuary. Each year the video interns would be able to train others in the editing and filming required as we care for more and different species. The students would not only learn about the animals we care for and the fragile ecology of our islands but how to use high tech video tools to profile our work and educate This series would focus on the care and rehabilitation of Hawaii’s fragile wildlife including the endangered species we save. Work to create this series would be one of the many things done in the new building. This dream could become a reality if the Sanctuary had the high quality tools that could be used to create the raw video and then the support to produce the finished DVDs. How many more children can we reach if the film were available nationwide?

Number and Profile of Those Expected to Benefit (population served)

Our educational programs reach out to students and share with them the value protecting the environment. We teach all grades of students at all schools not only on the Big Island but also across the country through our award winning web site (www.3rr.org) Most of the children who come through our programs are underserved and underprivileged. Hawaii County has some of the lowest income and highest cost of living in the State. Our afterschool mentors (for 11-13 year-olds) learn compassion, leadership and communication skills while they spend five hours a week minimum in our care. This program reaches out to youth who may otherwise have no place to go after school. This is not a “future program” or “future facility” but one with a nine-year record of excellence.

We have exceeded the 6400 mark for those who have been through our programs as of March 2008. While we cannot state that our numbers will increase beyond our steady climb we can say that the programs we will be able to offer will be more varied and more scientifically educational. If the curriculum and video become available to all teachers then we will be reaching out to a far greater number with each showing of our films. Untold hundreds of students will experience the rare and endangered world we share. There is no way to count those who would benefit if this program goes country-wide via the teaching video series.

The blueprint Denis has created portrays a 20 x 24 room, well lit with large windows and a single door. An open air pavillon fronts the building to create more space for educational programs. Estimated exterior completion is roughly 10-08 as long as full funding is located. Final finish work and interior estimated completion by 12-30-08.

Those Responsible

Professional licensed contractors have volunteered their expertise to build the facility. The architect, Fritz Glade-Harris is not only licensed in Hawaii but LEEP certified in photovoltaic systems and able (and willing) to work with the solar materials company to create our solar energy system.. The project general contractor, Dennis Bartlett has over 20 years of design and construction experience. Bruce Watkins, owner of Trinity Tractor Service (also in-kind) will be doing site work. Cost for site work will be only the fuel required for the equipment and a small hauling fee. Mark Morrison is assisting with the design of the reverse meter solar system and plumbing again, in-kind. Others have promised labor and construction skills. All of the Koa cabinets have been donated and are in storage along with granite for counter tops. The floor will be made of earth friendly bamboo. A concrete donation (cost) has been approved by West Hawaii Concrete.

Evaluation of budget will be monitored by our BOD, one of who (Bill Hauser) is an accountant. This data will always be available to any grant source. Photos of the project as it develops will be also available.

Financial support is still needed. $54,000 remains outstanding in the projects budget. $21,000 has already arrived.

Plan for Continued support

Once complete the classroom/museum should require minimal financial commitment from the Sanctuary.

We have applied to a dozen grant entities and have recieved one grant so far in the amount of $20,000

Please contact via email or phone.

Regards,

Ann