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WildLive Week: Celebrate animals and help John Ball Zoo!

Celebrate birthdays, go behind the scenes and hear personal stories, all while help the zoo.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Join John Ball Zoo June 16 through June 22 for a week of fun and animals! Just like many other businesses and organizations, John Ball Zoo has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. To top it off, the zoo had to cancel their largest fundraiser of the year, RendeZoo.

RendeZoo's sponsors decided to help in a different way, by pledging to match up to $100,000 in donations during WildLive Week. Participants can take part both virtually and at the zoo. 

The zoo will be celebrating birthdays, posting fun videos, making special announcements and have zoo-themed ways you can donate each day.

Join Us for WildLive Week

We are so excited to have our gates open and welcome each of you! We are also now ready to start talking about some fun! Join us June 16-22 for a week-long celebration: WildLive Week! We will be kicking it off with Maranda from WOOD TV8, hosting birthday celebrations, cooking with Chef Jenna Arcidiacono from Amore Trattoria Italiana, announcing community partnerships, sharing new ways to see the Zoo and meeting some of our staff! This will be the last chance for your gift to be matched. So be sure to make your donation to our matching gift campaign here: https://cbo.io/d/donate.php?slug=JBZ Every dollar counts. And each of you will make this campaign successful for our beloved Zoo. Thank you for your support! We hope to see you soon! #WildLive

Posted by John Ball Zoo on Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Here's a rundown of what they have planned:

Tuesday: Kick-off Facebook live event sharing what's in store for the week and a birthday party for chimpanzee Sammy, who's turning 42 years old.

Wednesday: Special "Thank you" for matching gift sponsors plus letting the sponsors speak on why they support John Ball Zoo and the importance of the zoo to the community.

Thursday: Celebrating kids! Youngsters will share messages on an online video to show how giving comes in big and small packages.

Friday: Zoo staff share their favorite zoo memories and moments.

Saturday: Go behind the scenes at John Ball Zoo and learn how the zoo cares for and feeds over 2,000 animals. See chef Jenna Arcidiacono from Amore Trattoria Italiana prepare a special dish for the chimpanzee troop.

Sunday: Celebrate Father's Day and red panda Wyatt's 8th birthday!

Monday: Zoo asks for your gifts one last time as they work to reach their $100,000 minimum goal.

Tuesday: Final matching gifts campaign results.

"We're having to re-envision what fundraising looks like," says Development Director Bethany Stowe. "So, we really came up with the best idea we could possibly think of, and that's just to celebrate the zoo."

Throughout the week, Uccello's Ristorante is partnering with the zoo to donate 15% of dinner sales from all six of their locations. Patrons just need to present the e-flyer that the zoo will be posting each day of the fundraiser.

"Any gift, any size is doubled. $5 becomes $10, those larger gifts too. But it doesn't matter the size of your gift, because it all goes to support the zoo," said Stowe.

You can make a gift online and click here to go to the event's Facebook page! To find out more information about WildLive week, visit Jon Ball Zoo's website.

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