Many teens today use their free time to participate in school clubs, to hang out with friends and text “the world,” but somehow still manage to keep up their grades in school. Nathan Hinderer, a junior at Hoover High School, does all of the above and then some. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Club as well as a varsity football and track letterman and a member of the Jazz Band and Symphonic Band. He is also an active in the youth group and choir at Faith United Methodist Church in North Canton, and is working on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout as a member of Boy Scout Troop 12 sponsored by the church.
For his required Eagle project Nathan is designing, fundraising and will build a waterfowl pen for the Sanders Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Massillon. The Sanders Center, off of Genoa Avenue on the west side of Sippo Lake Park, is part of the Stark Parks system and cares for more than 2000 injured and orphaned animals each year. The waterfowl pen will serve as the main facility where ducks, geese and other waterfowl can swim and live in a safe environment until they are strong enough to be released back into the wild. “The current waterfowl pen at the Sanders Center is rusted, warped and in very poor condition,” said Nathan. “It doesn’t provide the animals with nearly enough room to practice flying before they are released.”
The estimated cost of the new waterfowl pen is $4,500 to $5,000. To learn more about the project or to donate to the new waterfowl pen for the Sanders Center visit www.sanderswaterfowlpen.com. Checks should be made to the Friends of Stark Parks (put Waterfowl Pen as a memo) and send to the Sanders Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, 800 Genoa Ave NW, Massillon OH 44646. Donations can also hand delivered to Nathan at Stark Parks’ Wildlife Baby Shower on Sun., May 5 from 1-3 p.m. at the Exploration Gateway at Sippo Lake Park, where Nathan will have a booth.