Our mission
Gordon Wildlife is a 501(c)3 environmental center focused on wildlife rehabilitation, education and training. We take in injured and orphaned native wildlife found by members of the public in Central New York, providing veterinary care and rehabilitation services until the animals are strong enough to safely be returned to the wild.
We offer veterinary assistance to other regional wildlife rehabilitators and provide public outreach, education and training relating to wildlife rehabilitation and environmental conservation.
About us: Our founders
The Charles N. Gordon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center was founded in 2018 by Class II RVS licensed wildlife rehabilitator Sarah Holmes Bookbinder, CWR, and her husband, board certified veterinary surgeon Paul F. Bookbinder, DVM, DACVS. Located on 53 acres of wooded wetlands in Central New York adjoining protected state forest, Gordon Wildlife is the Bookbinders’ shared passion, dedicated to the rehabilitation and release of orphaned raccoons.
Paul and Sarah donate their time, attention, experience, knowledge and personal and financial resources to meeting the needs of these extraordinary animals. Each person brings individual strengths to the endeavor and both consider it a calling.
In addition to their own rehabilitation efforts, whenever possible, Paul and Sarah do all they can to make their veterinary medical knowledge and resources available to other wildlife rehabilitators in need of assistance. To date, the Bookbinders’ raccoon rehabilitation protocols have been purchased by wildlife professionals in over 40 states and 12 countries.
To read more about the Bookbinders, visit our Board of Directors page.
About Us: Watch the slideshow
Gordon Wildlife - Celebrating 5 years of Growth
About Charles N. Gordon
The youngest child of Jewish immigrants, Charles Nathan Gordon was born in 1935 and grew up in Buffalo, NY. An independent soul with a scientific mind, Charles graduated from New York University in 1969 with a PhD in biochemistry. He eventually settled in California and put his education to work first as a professor, and later as a developer of vitamin supplements. He worked as a chemist developing pet food recipes for MARS, Inc. (IAMS, Pedigree, Royal Canin, Sheba, Eukanuba, Cesar, Whiskas, Greenies, and Nutro) before retiring to teach English as a second language.
In his own quiet way, Charles was a lifelong supporter of numerous natural, wildlife and environmental causes, with annual memberships to organizations such as the Sierra Club, the World Wildlife Fund, and the National Wildlife Federation continuing since the early 1970s.
Upon his death in 2018, Charles left his modest estate to be divided among numerous recipients, one of whom was his nephew, Paul Bookbinder. Although perhaps “small” in the grand scheme of things, this unexpected windfall was enough to allow Paul and Sarah to make the downpayment on the property that was to become the wildlife rehabilitation center.
The Center has been named for Charles to honor his humble legacy of kindness and concern for nature, wildlife, and the environment. While the inheritance has long been spent on purchasing the land, without Charles’ initial contribution, Paul and Sarah might not have taken the official leap into rehabilitation and the center would not exist. It seems only fitting that all future donations to the center should continue to invoke his name.
As Charles’ life and legacy reflect, and as we try to demonstrate here daily, even small efforts, made with a thoughtful and open heart, can have an ever growing and evolving impact.
