Pomelo by Adrienne Ruork
By Clare Malone Prichard, Palomacy Board Chair
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been fifteen years since Elizabeth Young met and rescued Gurumina, the lovely King pigeon who exposed the unmet need of domestic and unreleasable pigeons for adoption. Initially named MickaCoo and hosted under the experienced wing of Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, our first major growth spurt led us to become a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives in 2011. The transition to our Palomacy name followed not long thereafter.
We find the need for our services continuing to grow. Once just a local organization serving pigeons and doves in the San Francisco Bay Area, we now provide valuable advice and guidance to rescuers across the nation and worldwide through our Facebook help group. We are grateful to Community Initiatives for their support over the years. We have been able to legally operate as a charitable organization under Community Initiatives’ 501(c)3 status.
A long held goal and our next milestone is establishing Palomacy as an independent nonprofit. Having our own 501(c)3 status means we can better serve the rescue community, fundraise in additional ways and explore new opportunities.
Our application for 501(c)(3) status has been approved by the IRS, and our FTB application for state tax exemption is due for approval any day. We have written our bylaws and established our board of directors. Now we transition from Community Initiatives’ fiscal administration to our own. We need to continue with all we are doing- our website, newsletters, rescuing, fostering, adopting, developing partners and aviaries, coaching, providing humane education and PR and now take over our banking, insurance, bookkeeping, accounting, HR and payroll, benefits, accounts payable and receivable, compliance, audits, reporting and more. Our plan is to start as a standalone nonprofit March 1, 2023! We need lots of help (including a new Board Treasurer) and you are invited to join us as we soar.
Please email Elizabeth@pigeonrescue.org to spread your wings & soar with us.
