30 striking Butler nurses found a new passion helping rehab birds

Congress of the Birds relies on dozens of volunteers

CHEPACHET – Walking the picket line for more than 80 days, Ian Lacombe and many of his fellow nurses at Butler Hospital missed the nurturing nourishment they received from helping to heal hospital patients.

After Lacombe rescued an injured baby hawk from his yard, several of those striking colleagues found another way to fill the void and feed their souls. About 30 of them became volunteers at Congress of the Birds , a sanctuary in Chepachet that rescues and rehabilitates wild birds.