(Photos courtesy of LRS/Think Wild)
Community service is a cornerstone of our firm culture at LRS, where in-office volunteer activities are a frequent staple of our happy hours and team lunches, and employees are granted eight paid hours annually to participate in community service projects of their choosing. This year, we are also excited to contribute the time, skills, and design expertise of our team — pro bono — to support Think Wild, a Bend-based nonprofit wildlife hospital and conservation center.
LRS first connected with Think Wild through the volunteer work of our very own Cody Clark, a member of our architectural staff and a self-described “bird nerd” and wildlife photographer (fun fact: Cody has photographed over 70 bird species to date!) Inspired by Cody’s work, the LRS Bend office joined Think Wild for a service day in 2023, providing a variety of maintenance and landscaping on campus. When Think Wild needed some site upgrades, LRS was thrilled to support this effort pro bono.
“Cody and the team at LRS Architects have been instrumental to the progress and success of Think Wild’s ongoing projects to increase the capacity and accessibility of our wildlife center!” says Sally Compton, Think Wild’s executive director. “Thanks to their help in designing our site plan, ADA facilities, and an educational yurt, we hope to be able to offer onsite education programs and private tours soon to get more of the community involved in saving and protecting native wildlife.”
Earlier this summer, Think Wild rescued two orphaned river otter pups, which has shed a light on the urgent need for aquatic mammal rehabilitation space in the Central and Eastern Oregon. The river otter pups have prompted an exciting effort to design an aquatic mammal enclosure at Think Wild, giving them the capacity to provide triage, short-, and long-term rehabilitation for river otters and beavers in the future.
“LRS Architects has offered to partner with Think Wild to design a fully-equipped aquatic mammal enclosure with the caging, pools, and infrastructure necessary to provide the best quality care to multiple species — all toward the goal of rescuing and rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife for release back to the wild.”
We are proud to be part of this effort and put our team’s skills to work to benefit our central Oregon community — stay tuned for more updates about our pro bono work with Think Wild, and learn more about the fundraiser for their new enclosure at this link.
