Donna McCarty Retiring as Birdathon Chair
By Ted Meyer
There probably aren’t enough superlatives to describe what Donna has accomplished during her tenure as Birdathon Chair. Over $800,000 in donations that have been granted to worthy recipients over 37 events. How did all this get started?
Like most of us, she has always been interested in nature and the outdoors. One winter in the mid-1970s Donna and her husband Don were living in an apartment and developed a case of cabin fever. They saw a notice in the Indianapolis Star about a bird hike at Eagle Creek Park and thought it would be fun. As Donna told me, “at the time, we didn’t even own a pair of binoculars. The leader of this hike was the irrepressible Bud Starling. We enjoyed the hike and it really opened our eyes to the number of bird species that could be seen here in central Indiana.”
At Bud Starling’s encouragement, in 1975 she joined the Amos W. Butler chapter of the National Audubon Society (NAS). She joined the Board for the first time in 1978 and served at various times as Program Chair, President, and Conservation Chair. It was during her time as Conservation Chair that she started Birdathon in 1987.
At the time, NAS was promoting the Birdathon idea, providing support and prizes, and encouraging chapters to participate. Jim and Nancy Carpenter were on the Board and had just returned from a trip to Costa Rica where they learned the Monteverde Cloud Forest had land for sale for $25 an acre giving the chapter a very tangible project for fundraising. Mary Ellen Gadski and Carl Weber were also on the board at this time supporting the first Birdathon and they had a very tangible project for fundraising.
The first year there was one team, Carl Weber, Bud Starling, Ted Test, and Scott Gremel. They were able to conserve 109 acres at Monteverde in Costa Rica with a $2,700 grant. Birdathon continued to support the Monteverde area for six years conserving 671 acres.
Since that first year, Birdathon grew quickly under Donna’s guidance. In 1990 they raised over $10,000. In 1991 fundraising exceeded $20,000, and in 2011 they raised over $30,000. Of course, Donna didn’t do this alone. There are dozens of key people who have helped over the years – committee workers, Big Day birding teams, and most importantly, the donors. Donna and all of us at ABAS can’t thank everyone enough.
Much of the fundraising has been done by the Big Day birding teams. Donna was actively encouraging people to form teams that in turn supported the fundraising. In 1995 the Women’s team was added. From 1997 to 2016 the DNR team did significant fundraising. In 2000 there were five teams and by 2008 there were 10 teams. We generally have 12 teams each year now with a peak of 15 teams in 2013.
In 2006 a silent auction was added that raised over $2,000 that first year. It continues to this day during the Birdathon celebration each fall. In 2020, out of the necessity of social distancing, the online auction was born. Today most donated items are in the online auction with a few selected for the in-person silent auction. These together raise over $4,000 each year. Barbara Jablonski has been instrumental in the auctions.
Donna’s Birdathon committee is a great example of how a committee should be run for any type of organization. The results achieved aren’t an accident. The fall celebration, silent/online auctions, team growth, and fundraising growth come from hard work, organization, and excellent communication.
The Birdathon grantees are numerous and grateful. For the most part, they are for habitat conservation, research, and education. The largest recipient has been the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) with over $300,000 in grants. These ABC grants benefit habitat conservation in Latin America where many of our Indiana birds spend the winter. Eagle Creek Park and its Ornithology Center has received over $45,000 in grants and the Nina Mason Pulliam EcoLab at Marian University has received over $35,000 in grants. Other research grants have consistently gone to Ball State University, Purdue University, and Indiana University. Education grants go to a wide variety of organizations.
If you don’t know what Birdathon is, see our website at www.amosbutleraudubon.org. I would be remiss at this point if I didn’t encourage everyone reading this to head to the website and make a donation to your favorite team or a general donation. Donna never misses an opportunity to promote Birdathon and I am happy to follow her wonderful example.
In recognition of her outstanding service to ABAS, the Board of Directors established the Donna McCarty Volunteer Service Award in 2011, and Donna was the first recipient. Donna “was very humbled and honored. I still find it hard to believe that James Cole was willing to part with his painting of a flock of Cedar Waxwings as an appreciation gift.” Eleven years later we thank Donna once again for her outstanding service.
Birdathon will continue in 2023 with Chandler Roberts taking over as the chair of the Birdathon Committee. He has been shadowing Donna’s activities this year and Donna will no doubt provide significant help in the transition.
I’ll end with Donna’s reflection on what volunteering has meant to her. “It gives me fulfillment and purpose. I have always enjoyed being outdoors since I was a kid. Then as a young adult, I became concerned about the extinction of species. When I became involved with Audubon, it gave my concerns a voice.”