Wildlife Center's Open House a resounding success

PALM CITY — More than 1,500 visitors flocked to the Treasure Coast Wildlife Center’s Open House event on Saturday, March 25 to have a “wild” time experiencing the outdoors and meeting the critters who are permanent residents of the Wildlife Center, located on nearly 300 acres of lush conservation land in western Palm City.

Attendees took part in wildlife demonstrations, guided nature trail tours, interactive games and the exciting release of a red-shouldered hawk. The locally known community-building group, Martin County Rocks, gave the facility a splash of color, one hand-painted rock at a time, while the creative upcycling project Unify to Beautify provided brightly painted picnic tables and earth-friendly, old-fashioned board games.

While the event was not a fundraiser, visitors were so inspired by the Wildlife Center’s mission of providing care to sick, injured and orphaned animals, more than $4,000 was raised and 44 visitors signed up to become members.