One of the many things I love about birding is the small community atmosphere and willingness of others to help in times of need. Even when a complete stranger is involved.
I’ve been home sick for two days so I’ve been spending a ridiculous amount of time on the internet. This morning after dragging myself back into bed after making breakfast, I stumbled across a post shared by Kimberly Kauffman on facebook:
“I never post things like this. But this is a friend of a friend that I totally trust and he asked if we might be willing to share this story of a person who needs some help. Jill Wussow is a USGS field biologist who was living out of her car doing fieldwork across the west. Until last week, when a tree took her car out at a trailhead in the Frank Church Wilderness in Idaho. She’s started a fundraising campaign to help get a new car. So, please help if you can!” With this link: http://www.gofundme.com/b4l8xs
I don’t know Jill Wussow, either, and I thank Kim Kauffman for sharing the link!
I immediately clicked on the link and saw these horrid photos
Luckily Jill wasn’t in the car and was backpacking elsewhere at the time.
I thought back to all the times I was SOL in the field with my Pontiac Sunfire. The time I camped in a city park in Kansas and got dumped on by so much snow that my car couldn’t move. The time a wood rat spent the night consuming all of the important electrical wires under my hood and replacing them with branches from a cedar tree (I hope that little a-hole was cozy and warm). The many times I lodged the Sunfire into sand and mud pits only to have to wait 6+ hours for AAA to track me down. The flat tires. The animal collisions. The list goes on and on. There is no worse feeling of helplessness when something like this happens and you are literally alone in the middle of nowhere, and have been for days or even weeks. You rely on the kindness of others who seem to have just appeared out of nowhere to help you right at the moment you think you might lose it.
So, I don’t know Jill. But I can relate. Today we want to thank Jill for being an awesome field biologist by sharing her story in hopes that she can raise enough money to replace her car. Also, if you know anyone in the area with a car she can buy, please contact any of us or Jill directly through her fundraising page. Jill is now somewhere in or around northern and central Nevada/Salt Lake, UT/Boise, ID. Â Please click THIS LINK to donate directly to her fundraising page. Help a fellow birder in need!!!!!!!!!! Â