208-500-8332
OUR BACKGROUND
How We Got Here
Each of our members and volunteers have a different story to tell of how they came to be inwardly sensitive to the plight of earth's pollinator populations. Some seek to assist bees, others birds, and still others butterflies or another pollinator class. All of these major groups of pollinators make possible much of the food we humans eat each day. Do you like coffee or chocolate, for example? We would have neither without the diligent and faithful activity of pollinators. How about watermelon, fruits, and nuts? Again, most would be non-existent, or radically diminished, without the tenacious hard work of pollinators.
So, common to every member and volunteer is our abiding awe for the critically important role pollinator populations play in the health and nutrition of the human collective. We also share a painfully deep awareness of the alarming rate in which all major pollinator populations on the planet are being dramatically reduced, some to the point of extinction.
Each of us asked ourselves: If we do not rise up to help, who will?
The answer to this question animates our love and commitment to protect and preserve our pollinator friends. This is what prompted us to apply for a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity from the IRS to marshal financial support in the form of grants and individual tax-deductible donations. As we learn more and more, we gather together to find ways to help in whatever way (small and large) that we can. We all have fallen in love with the beautiful pollinators of our planet. Just like the Monarch, which travels thousands of miles from deep within Mexico and along the coast of California in their migratory journey to do their pollinator work and bless us throughout the United States, we come from a thousand backgrounds along difficult to trace paths to bless them and other pollinators, and to rise up in a sustained effort to find solutions for our dying pollinator populations.
Science research is critically needed; education of the public is essential; restoration of pollinator habitats only needs the energy from willing hands; and long-term solutions through permanent land preservation efforts need only to find the will and commitment to put them in place.
We are glad that you found us too!
MORE ABOUT WINGSRISING, INC.
Rising Up to Help Pollinator Populations Survive and Thrive!
Most of us have lives packed with busy schedules: spending most of our waking hours earning a living and caring for our family. If you have lived into adulthood any length of time, you likely can remember your youth and the frequent delight each summer brought in the form of abundant butterflies, bumblebees, and hummingbirds busily flitting about and doing their tireless pollinator work among your backyard flowers. This thought may give you pause. There just aren't that many of those magical creatures around anymore are they? That, sadly, is a painfully true observation. It doesn't need to be this way but it is our reality for today.
That is what WingsRising, Inc., is all about. We have within our power (and it falls to our responsibility) to help our pollinator populations to not only survive but also to thrive. Not just because they bring joy to us in summer, but because they are essential to much of what humanity eats. Our food doesn't come from the supermarket but from the fields; and it is our pollinator friends who do the tireless work that makes that food possible in abundance.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, PROSSER, WASHINGTON
IDAHO COUNTY SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF RECLAMATION
IDAHO FISH AND GAME
INTERNATIONAL BUTTERFLY BREEDERS ASSOCIATION
MONARCH WATCH
AUDUBON SOCIETY
BUTTERFLY HAVEN
BOISE MAYOR MONARCH TASK FORCE
WINGSRISING, INC.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Directing Passion and Foresight into the Future
PATRICK ADAIR
Founder, Chairman, CEO
SUSAN BURKE
Founder, Board Member, Secretary
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
We owe a debt of gratitude to these wise counsellors
DR. DAVID JAMES
Professor of Entomology, WSU Prosser
SIMONE EWING
Ornamental Horticulturist
GARY CHAPMAN
Insurance and Business Advisor
CONNIE HODSDON
Master Butterfly Breeder
PROJECT DIRECTORS AND VOLUNTEERS
Those Who Pour Energy into the Work
SUSAN BURKE
Director of Field Operations (Athol, Idaho)
ROBERT (BOB) FLAGER
Director of Project Powerlines
JAMA HAMEL
Milkweed Relocation Services for Farmers
DELIA (DE) TRENBEATH
Chair, The Mighty Monarchs Task Force
WILLIAM (BILL) AMENT
Monarch Sanctuary City Liaison
PATRICK ADAIR
Scientific Studies Liaison
Land Preservation Trust Attorney
RANDY REED
Flight House & Discovery Center Currator
KAREN REED
Regional Community Outreach
SARAH
Graphic Designer
SUSANNAH
Public Relations
HEATHER OLLER
Photography
WENDY PRATT
Monarch Tag & Release, Southeast Idaho
JESSIE OLLER
Monarch Tag & Release, Southeast Idaho
ARLENE HORTIN
Co-Leader, Boise Mayor's Monarch Pledge Task Force
PAULA GAULIN
Volunteer Seamstress
KAREN KRIMMER
Volunteer Field Observer
WOULD YOU LIKE TO VOLUNTEER?
Name your passion!
ISO CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
Developing an ISO 9001 Certification Program for Commercial Breeders of Pollinator Populations
The ISO 9001 certification program, under the governing authority of the International Organization for Standardization in Geneva Switzerland, attempts to bring education and quality management principles into the pollinator breeding process.
One of the definitions of a “ principle ” is that it is a basic belief, theory, or rule that has a major influence on the way in which something is done. “Quality management principles” ("QMPs") are a set of fundamental beliefs, norms, rules, and values that are accepted
as true and can be used as a basis for quality management.
The QMPs can be used as a foundation to guide an organization’s performance improvement. They were developed and updated by international experts of ISO, which is responsible for
developing and maintaining ISO’s quality management standards.
The seven quality management principles are :
QMP 1 – Customer focus
QMP 2 – Leadership
QMP 3 – Engagement of people
QMP 4 – Process approach
QMP 5 – Improvement
QMP 6 – Evidence-based decision making
QMP 7 – Relationship management
These principles are not listed in priority order. The relative importance
of each principle will vary from organization to organization and can
be expected to change over time.
WingsRising is undertaking an ongoing effort to produce a certified and approved ISO 9001-- POLLINATOR standard for the benefit of all interested stakeholders.