Banana Slugs Service at Mollyood 11-12-16

Mollywood Avian Sanctuary has been described in the past as: “A place with its own world of sounds.” A world of sounds indeed! Imagine over 150 parrots, mostly cockatoos, squawking and screeching for your attention, and you have some idea of the loveable chaos that we were fortunate to take part in on Saturday afternoon.

Mollywood was founded by Betsy and Nate Lott, whose love of the companion birds led to their unforeseen caretaking of hundreds of birds who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected by their owners. Parrots are the third most popular pet in the U.S. and can be found in 17.3 million homes. Unfortunately most parrot owners aren’t aware of the effort and  commitment needed to effectively care for these birds (parrots can live to be 80 years old!), resulting in 85% of them being given away within the first 2 years. This highlights the need for committed and compassionate people such as Betsy, who tirelessly work to provide shelter and sanctuary for these lively and loveable birds. Betsy volunteers day in and day out to care for these birds, forsaking a paying job and virtually all of her free time. She relies on other volunteers, such as the energetic and enthusiastic Banana Slugs, to help maintain the sanctuary and ensure a healthy and hospitable environment for the birds.

The Banana Slugs really lived up to the EC mottos of Our Cups Overflow, Everyone Helps, Walk Your Talk and Get Dirty as they ambitiously and diligently cleaned out the debris and food discards from under the cages and swept up huge, heaping piles of wood pieces, bird seeds, paper scraps - you name it - and put them into the garbage. Imagine a room packed with 100 birds, all in their separate cages, and now imagine the collective mess these birds make over the week (we ended up with 13 huge bags of garbage!). The girls tackled this mess with enthusiasm and a bright positive attitude, not letting the hard work dampen their spirits or weaken their efforts. The Banana Slugs filled the room with smiles and laughter as they cleaned and swept, all the while talking to the birds, who were whistling at them, vying for their attention with nonstop "Hello! Hello!" asking "How Are You?", bouncing up and down. Soon the girls had transformed the room into a clean, spotless sanctuary. 

We came to Mollywood committed to serving and making a small difference in the lives of these birds and their caretakers, but walked away with so much more. We spent the day basking in the love and joy that these birds carry with them and truly felt the pleasure that comes from sharing our work, time, and effort with those that deserve it the most.  For more information about this wonderful organization, please visit their website at:www.mollywood.org

Enjoy the full album of our service day here.

EC Mottos especially alive today: 

Be Prepared

Safety First

Walk Your Talk

Get Dirty!

Expect the Unexpected

Our Cups Overflow...

LIBK

You See It, You Own It

Everyone Helps

We're All Teachers

Collaborate and Compromise