Last month was National Poetry Month, so to celebrate, Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford hosted an open mic night.
It was a laid back event around the fire pit for people to share their inner thoughts, said Cedar Run’s development coordinator Shannon Donaghy.
Donaghy’s journey with Cedar Run started in 2023. Her first introduction to the refuge was when she and her wife got married there. After the wedding, she started volunteering but when the position for the development coordinator popped up, she knew she had to take it. She’s been serving in that role for a little over a year and it’s been amazing, she said. She loves the refuge’s three-pronged mission and it’s important to her.
“Our mission is to promote healthy ecosystems for all through our environmental education, wildlife rehabilitation and habitat conservation work,” she said. “It’s very rewarding getting to see people connect with the animals, especially with the little kids, having that first core memory and connecting with nature is so exciting. We have so many animals that you wouldn’t necessarily get to see… Being able to see people have their minds blown by the animals is so cool.”
The refuge’s wildlife hospital treats roughly about 8,000 animals every year. Cedar Run’s wildlife hospital is the largest and busiest in New Jersey, Donaghy explained, sitting on about 171-acres of preserved land, specifically Pine Barrens land, with about three-miles of hiking trails. All species treated at the hospital are native to New Jersey, with the hospital treating 185 different species.
Cedar Run’s vision is that the treatment and rehabilitation services that the refuge provides to sick, injured and/or orphaned wildlife in New Jersey educate, inspire and instill a sense of stewardship in youth and residents throughout the region, leading to increased protection of natural resources.
“Rehabilitation is such rewarding work, but it does cost a lot of money, so that is where we need quite a bit of help from our community,” Donaghy said. “This time of year is baby season, so from April to September we are preparing to see 80 to 90 percent of the patients we treat every year.”
One of the ways that Donaghy likes to add depth to the Cedar Run experience is to plan several events throughout the year that include a silent book club, arts events and the open mic night, something that was born from the refuge’s poetry contest last month. The idea, she explained, was to not only extend celebrations for National Poetry Month, but also get people out to the grounds, enjoy nature and feel inspired.
“We like to say that we’re your place in the wild,” Donaghy said. “We’re a wildlife refuge, but we’re also a refuge to humans. We want to be an open community space where people can come and feel safe and happy and get to connect with nature.
“Nature is so inspiring and beautiful, and it’s hard to put into words exactly what you feel, but poetry helps us do that. It helps us infuse those emotions into something more tangible that we can process.”
