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GlobalGiving matching gift event, July 12, 2017

FINAL UPDATE 7/16/2017:

The final tally is in! We have reached our fundraising goal, thanks to all of you who gave money and hope to the 600+ feathered friends in our rescue flock. We cannot thank you enough for your generosity and kindness.

UPDATE 9:00 PM:

Here are the final results from today's online fundraising - we raised 71% of our $20K goal! That's $14.2K, or about enough for 1.5 weeks of vet bills at our current expense level. And matching funds remain to cover the checks we hope to see in our PO Box this weekend.

If YOU would like to drop a check in the mail for our birds, please mail them to:
Mickaboo, PO Box 697, San Jose, CA 95106

THANK YOU again for your generosity!

UPDATE 6:15 PM:

We are now at 68% of our goal! The Challenge Grant deadline of 9 pm PT is drawing near - won't you help get us closer?

Your generosity helps birds like Baby, a female greenwing macaw in our rescue flock. A month ago she was not eating, not acting like herself, and straining to poop. So she went to the UC Davis vet hospital for an emergency visit. She was egg bound! The vets had to keep her overnight but they were able to remove the egg without complications. They sent her home with pain medication, antibiotics and a lupron implant to prevent egg-laying.

She was doing great! Back to her sweet self and exhibiting significantly less hormonal behavior. But last Friday she laid another egg. Then Saturday night she started acting like she was trying to lay yet another egg. The vet said it might take 2-3 days for her to pass the egg. So we could only watch her. On Monday, she had several prolonged episodes where she was straining really hard to pass the egg so she went back to UC Davis.

Baby's first vet adventure cost Mickaboo just over $1000. We're pretty sure this second vet visit will be about the same! Baby is back home and a bit grumpy, and otherwise doing fine.

Help us help birds in our care like Baby? Give online while matching funds last! OR, send a check to Mickaboo, PO Box Box 697, San Jose, CA 95106 so that it reaches us by Friday, July 14. If any matching funds remain after today, the residual will apply to those checks.

UPDATE 12:00 PM:

We are now at 60% of today's goal. Keep sharing our message of hope and caring for these feathered beauties - and give here!

UPDATE 11:00 AM:

We have collectively raised 57% of today's $20K online fundraising goal - and we have several hours left before the day runs out. THANK YOU for all of your generosity!

More about the Telegraph Hill conures we are featuring today: Emma (at the top) came to us with a messy little beak and a rather charming head tilt. The tilt, while cute, is one of the neurological symptoms that we see with many of these sick San Francisco flock conures. Emma is currently able to sit. We hope to get her climbing and perching with some physical therapy. Emma does have a ways to go, so she’ll be racking up vet bills for a while.

In the middle is Larkin, named because he was found at Chestnut and Larkin streets! Larkin came to us on June 29. You can see from the picture that he’s a feisty little guy, completely destroying a foraging packet and surrounded by the resulting shredded pile of newspaper ads! However, like Emma, he has neurological symptoms and has been at the vet now for several weeks.

Finishing out our collage with another head-tilt pose is Valencia. He came at the same time as Emma and was found nearby - maybe they were best friends! Valencia shows the most pronounced neurological symptoms of the three, so we’re especially crossing our fingers for this little sweetheart. Like Emma and Larkin, Valencia will need a lot of medication and veterinary care to get well enough to go to a foster home and then get adopted.

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Please help us help Emma, Larkin, Valencia, and their feathered friends in our rescue flock - give here while matching funds last!

UPDATE 7:35 AM:

The GlobalGiving Bonus Day matching funds have run out! That said, some of our generous supporters have banded together to create a Mickaboo Challenge Grant to help us meet today's fundraising goal.

Please give here to make your Mickaboo Challenge Grant donation, it will be matched at 30% while matching funds remain. If you prefer to donate via check, you may send it to
Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, PO Box 697, San Jose, CA 95106

Check donations postmarked today, July 12, and received by July 14 will be matched (if matching funds remain).

We have collectively raised about $6K toward today's $20K fundraising goal. Please give and share! THANK YOU for all you do to help our feathered friends.

Mickaboo has reached a turning point in our 20-year history. Would you help us continue helping companion birds for another 20 (or more) years by donating during today's matching gift event?

Your donation today can go further during the matching gift event underway now (Wednesday, July 12), 6 am - 9 pm PT. GlobalGiving will match your online donations, up to $1,000 per donor at 50% - if you give while the $110,000 in matching funds remain. Give early to help ensure YOU get the match!

The flock of rescued birds for which we actively care has grown by almost 40% since 2013! This growth, together with the resulting financial costs, is unsustainable in the long run. We are therefore embarking on a series of measures to, over time, reduce the size of the flock and our expenses to more manageable levels. We have also established a quasi-endowment fund to help ensure Mickaboo's long-term financial stability, so that we can continue to exist for the birds to whom we have made a lifelong commitment.

Your generosity today and in the future will help birds like:

the three pictured Telegraph Hill conures, recent additions who needed medical attention for their neurological condition
Baby, a macaw amongst the flock of 600+ birds we are now caring for, who needed veterinary help this week to pass her egg
Verde, a rosella surrendered to Mickaboo after his guardian passed away, now with a wonderful adoptive parent

Help these and our many other birds heal! We have a $20,000 fundraising goal today, about a half-month of vet bills. Take advantage of today's matching gift opportunity now, and watch our progress throughout the day at this blog.