Southern Tier Tuesdays: For The Love Of Finn awarded $2,000 grant

(WBNG) -- For The Love Of Finn is this week’s winner of a $2,000 grant from Upstate Shredding through Southern Tier Tuesdays.

“We started in 2018 and our very first year we had one animal,” Organization President Lori Wheeler said “What we do is wildlife rehabilitation so we take in native species that are injured, orphaned, or displaced and we rehabilitate them until they’re able to go back into the world.”

Wheeler noted since 2018 For The Love Of Finn has helped rehabilitate more than 370 animals.

Before starting For The Love Of Finn Wheeler worked for a program that provided educational programs with native species.

“One of the species that I happened to have the privilege of socializing was the Virginia Opossum and his name was Huckleberry Finn,” Wheeler said. “I kind of knew after I went through that process with him that I wanted to take this a step further and I wanted to be able to help an animal to be released back into the wild so that is why it is named For The Love Of Finn.”

Wheeler said For The Love Of Finn takes care of small mammals.

“Think anything from a Bobcat down and that’s the kind of animals that I take in,” Wheeler said. “So that’s Virginia Opossums, foxes, squirrels, cotton-tails things like that.”

Wheeler said the busiest seasons for the organization are spring and fall.

“Usually you think spring and fall are when those babies come in the most so you can kind of figure that we’re balancing just under 100 animals each season so it’s very busy,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler mentioned she recently became a Class II Wildlife Rehabilitator.

“I can now have assistance under me that we train so that’s very helpful because more hands mean more animals that can be cared for,” Wheeler said.

For The Love Of Finn plans to use this grant money to purchase the necessary resources to provide a safe atmosphere for the animals.

Southern Tier Tuesdays is a philanthropic endeavor of Adam Weitsman, owner of Upstate Shredding, and his daughter, Clover. For more information or to nominate a Southern Tier non-profit go to southerntiertuesdays.com.