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45 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, November 13, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 3, 2004 Wildlife Images Director David Siddon releases a hawk with the help of 5-year-old Hanna Rose Whitescorn as part of Hanna�s birthday celebration. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli A birthday celebrated On wings of hope Donations to Wildlife Images replace the usual array of presents for a Medford girl By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune Last year, when Hanna Rose Whitescorn turned 4, the Medford preschooler spent a half-hour opening birthday cards and gifts from 30 pint-sized pals. By the time she was done, the pile of presents was big, the pile of trash was bigger and little Hanna was bored and overwhelmed. "It was great, but it was a lot," recalls Hanna’s mother, Shawn Whitescorn, 33. "I felt guilty. I just felt like it was so much for a kid to have." So this year, when Hanna turned 5, her parents took a new tack. They asked party-goers to forgo presents. Instead, if they liked, the kids were invited to donate money for Hanna’s favorite cause: injured animals at Wildlife Images in Merlin. Which is how the blonde, blue-eyed little girl came to be standing nose-to-beak last week with the sharp-shinned hawk in center director Dave Siddon’s gloved hands. Advertisement Instead of a new Barbie or a Kim Possible backpack, Hanna got the chance to release a rehabilitated bird into the wild. As the gold-eyed, brown-winged hawk wriggled toward freedom, Hanna calmly considered her present. "He’s looking at me like he knows me!" she said. Then she put one small palm on the bird’s back as Siddon opened his hands. With a rush of wings, the bird swooped toward the trees lining the Rogue River. Hanna jumped with glee — and immediately wanted to do it again. "Where’s the red-tailed hawk?" she demanded. A little while later, she got to release one of those, too. Hanna’s birthday drive drew some $250 from her friends and their families, enough to "adopt" three of the 2,000 birds, bears cougars, badgers and other animals healed by the center each year. The response was overwhelmingly positive said Hanna’s dad, Wayne Whitescorn, 40, who runs the family business, Confident Caterers. "Other parents understand how much these kids have," he said. "It’s a throwaway society." Jacqueline Williams, the mother of Hanna’s good friend, Ellie, said she appreciated the lesson her 5-year-old learned. Ellie spent the weekend before Hanna’s birthday helping fold laundry and wash dishes to add $3 to her mom’s contribution for the unusual present. "I just thought it was a really wonderful thing to introduce a child to the concept of giving," said Williams, who lives in the upper Applegate. "Five is a good age to start saying, ‘Hey, we really don’t NEED anything more. Let’s do something good with that money.’ " Hanna and her parents chose Wildlife Images because they’ve visited a half-dozen times. The little girl who’s partial to the Animal Channel on TV pulled a rubber-band-wrapped stack of bills out of her small straw bag and handed it to Siddon. "Here!" she said, adding later: "I really wanted to take care of the animals." Siddon happily accepted the cash. Donations make up about 90 percent of the agency’s $430,000 annual operating budget, he said. They’ve recently started a drive to create a $1 million endowment that would fund operating expenses. With costs to rehabilitate the first bird Hanna released topping $1,000, Siddon says he’d welcome more charitable donors like her. "It’s so great to see them at this age to get the idea going," Siddon said. Shawn Whitescorn admits she wondered whether other parents would think she was denying her daughter a proper party. But response to the birthday donation has brought gifts the family never imagined. "What it shows is that when you do give, you reap so many rewards," she said. For more information about Wildlife Images, call 541-476-0222 or visit www.wildlifeimages.org on the Web. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities