Eagle Rare Presents 2012 Rare Life Award To Founder of Wildlife Center.

Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has named Edward E. Clark, Jr. of Waynesboro, Virginia, as grand prize winner of the 2012 Rare Life Award. Eagle Rare will donate $20,000 to the Wildlife Center of Virginia, where Clark is president and co-founder.

The Wildlife Center of Virginia was founded in an empty barn in 1982 to care for local wildlife. It has grown into one of the world’s leading teaching and research hospitals for wildlife and conservation medicine.

Over the years, the Center has cared for more than 60,000 injured or orphaned animals, reached millions of people with its educational programs, and trained students and professionals from veterinary schools in the United States, Canada, and more than 40 other countries.

During the Gulf oil spill, Clark was part of an interdisciplinary damage assessment team assembled by the Humane Society of the United States that was asked to view the area affected by the spill and make recommendations. Additionally, Clark and his team have spent more than seven years developing and deploying a sophisticated online database, called WILD-ONe, which links care centers across North America and helps them collect, compile, and analyze patient records to detect and report wildlife health issues as they emerge.

Sponsored by Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the Rare Life Award is an annual recognition program that honors individuals who exhibit courage, leadership, survival, devotion, character and heroism.

Eagle Rare will also donate $2,000 each to the charities chosen by the six runners up. Stories and photos of all the winners can be found at www.eaglerarelife.com.

Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey is a product of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, a family-owned company based in Frankfort, Kentucky.