The Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, which rescues and rehabilitates around 4,000 birds and small mammals each year in Santa Barbara, received a $100,000 donation this week from a well-known philanthropist who died earlier in the year.
Walter J. Thomson left the grant as seed money to create an endowment fund for the nonprofit organization. He also gave a $100,000 gift in 2003 that allowed the group to buy land and begin construction on a permanent rehab center. The wildlife network, said its spokesperson, receives no public funds and relies entirely on donations.