Kane Area Rehabilitation and Education or K.A.R.E., is a local organization that will help if you have found injured wildlife. Local, Liz O’Leary is a wildlife volunteer with the group and her husband serves as a local West Chicago Firefighter.K.A.R.E. rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife in Kane County, In addition to Kane, they also take in some animals for surrounding counties including DuPage depending on the type of animal it is that needs help. They work with other area rehabbers and facilities like Willowbrook Wildlife Center as some specialize in certain animals. For example, they are one of only 3 facilities in northern Illinois with permits to help fawn.
K.A.R.E. has volunteers on most of the area’s social media to also assist with posts about injured wildlife. Usually, people will bring animals to them and occasionally they’re available to come out to assist. Chicago Bird Collision Monitors is another fantastic group that helps and brings birds to the appropriate facilities.
O’Leary met Vicki Guise, the founder and private rehabber of the organization, back in early 2000 when she worked as a vet tech at the vet office she uses for injured wildlife. Prior to that, she volunteered at the Iowa Raptor Center and Shedd Aquarium in the marine mammals department. She eventually went on to work in multiple departments as a seasonal keeper at Brookfield Zoo. She also did internships at both Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo in marine mammals. One day she randomly connected again with Vicki and started volunteering with her back in 2006. She currently does most of K.A.R.E.’s outreach educational programs and handles emails when her husband is not working as a West Chicago Firefighter.
Things K.A.R.E. Does:
- They help injured and orphaned animals/wildlife
- K.A.R.E. hosts educational programs for schools, scout groups, and the community in addition to a Birds of Prey program.
- They regularly do programs through the Elgin Park District at Hawthorn Hill Nature Center.
- KARE is a private residence therefore they do not do tours or field trips.
- The organization is 100% volunteer-based and relies 100% on donations.
- Each fall they post for new volunteers. We ask for a minimum 1-year commitment because of the amount of training involved. We will be posting in October for volunteer opportunities. We have a very diverse group of volunteers.
If someone finds an injured or orphaned animal they can text: 708-220-1420 during normal business hours. They are not open 24/7. They do have a facebook page, here. where residents and contact them as well.
KARE is currently booking programs for schools and has had quite a few inquiries for homeschooling co-ops. You can email Liz at kareforwildlife@gmail.com if your group is in an educational program or feel free to ask questions in the comments. Programs would need to be within DuPage or Kane County or near St. Charles where the rescue is located.
According to O’Leary, they have had a lot of people asking if they have an Amazon wish list and they do. Kane Area Rehabililitation and Education has an Amazon wishlist if residents would like to help them out. View and the wishlist here
