Raptor Center of Southeast Michigan

By Dody Wyman

As most or all of you know, River Raisin Raptor Center was originally formed as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit way back in 1998. Fast forward to when I wanted to begin to retire, I gave Francie Krawcke and Sarah Gilmore the educational part of the organization. Making it her own, Francie wanted to change the name to Michigan Avian Experience which was no problem and went through both the State of Michigan and the IRS in quick order. I kept my rehabilitation permits to be legal when injured or sick raptors needed help.

Fast forward just a bit more and I found Alysha and Scott Albrecht who had the passion and talent to want to take over the rehab part of RRRC. We formed a board and decided to renew River Raisin Raptor Center as a nonprofit. I filed all the paperwork with the State and IRS, but could not get a tax ID number from the IRS. I sent in more supporting documentation and was told to expect a ruling in about 60 – 90 days hence.

When I didn’t hear anything, I called the IRS for the third time looking for an answer. I was told “it went to review” and I would get a letter in the mail in a couple of weeks. That letter came and said we were a 501 (c) (3) and our tax ID number was …. exactly the same as Michigan Avian Experience. This didn’t make total sense to me, but if it was good with the IRS it was good with me!

When I tried to file our online 990 it was rejected because we were using Michigan Avian Experience’s tax ID number. And no – we couldn’t get our own number because there already was a River Raisin Raptor Center on file. Catch-22 and circular formula!

OK, enough background that’s pretty much impossible to follow. The bottom line is we decided to start fresh. New name, Alysha listed as director, her address and her being the one to apply.

So, please welcome the Raptor Center of SE Michigan. Other than the name and address change, it’s all the same wonderful organization you’ve all known for years. We expect our nonprofit status to be complete by the end of August. Thank you all for sticking with us through thick and thin!

Raptor Report from ALYSHA Albrecht

We had an eventful and exciting spring. We wrapped up finishing touches on our small 8×12 foot enclosure just in time for an Eastern Screech Owl to be reconditioned for release!

Since then we have released three other birds this year, for a total of four so far! Two Red-tailed Hawks, One Eastern Screech Owl and one Cooper’s Hawk. And filtered dozens of calls about baby fledgling birds. We always love seeing the birds get a second chance and flying free!!

We’ve spent most of our weekends working on preparation to the plot of land for the 56-foot enclosure. Thank you to our friends and family who helped us move 8×12 foot panels from Coldwater to Brooklyn, MI. It was a full day of driving and heavy lifting. Special thanks to Dody for putting together a rockstar crew, which included Faith and Ralph Krug, Deborah & Klaus Wolter, Dave and Sarah Spratt. and Aaron the truck driver. We are so grateful for your support!

Shout out to Napoleon Stone, LLC in Napoleon, MI for donating four cubic yards of stone, which was used as perimeter footing of the large enclosure.

Due to weather and scheduling conflicts, we’ve had to reschedule the build day twice now. We hope to have it up and finished before the fall hits us!

As always, thank you for your continuous support to our very small non-profit and the birds!