DEVELOPMENT
Inspiring
Action
Walking through a grocery store
one day, a four-year-old girl who has
just started to identify words, holds
up a container of cookies and asks
her mom, “does this have palm oil
in it?”
This question is the result of one
interaction at the Louisville Zoo.
While visiting the Zoo, this little
girl met orangutan Amber in the
Islands. She showed Amber her
stuffed animal, her painted fi nger-
nails and what was in her backpack
— and Amber was not shy returning
her interest.
While
the little girl
and Amber
bonded, a Zoo
keeper was
able to have
a conversa-
tion with both
child and par-
ent about Am-
ber, her wild
orangutan
cousins and why they are critically
endangered. Fast-forward to the next
grocery store visit for the mother and
child. The child grabs a container of
cookies, but this time, the mom turns
the container over and looks at the
ingredient list: palm oil.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. It has palm
oil in it — that thing hurting orang-
utan homes,” mom says. Without
hesitation, but a little disappointed,
the little girl places it back on the
shelf. From that moment on, when
What if
everyone
had the chance
to visit their Zoo?
choosing items during grocery trips,
the little girl almost always turns to
mom and asks, “Does this have palm
oil in it?”
Zoos offer us the opportunity
to create memories that can last a
lifetime, a chance to reminisce about
happy times with loved ones or recall
a special moment from childhood.
Zoos can feel like a safe place: an
escape from the everyday pressure
of our lives. They are also a place to
help us learn to make decisions in
our daily lives that are in better bal-
ance with the
earth and ani-
mals across
the globe.
Your gifts
to the An-
nual Fund,
capital exhibit
projects, be-
quests for the
future, gifts
to support
conservation
initiatives and research plus under-
writing for fi eld trips for underprivi-
leged children all help us accomplish
our mission to “better the bond
between people and our planet.”
Your gifts help moments like the
one with Amber, a little girl and her
mother possible. Of all Louisville’s many
wonderful attractions, noth-
ing seems to capture the
hearts and minds of children
as much as your Louisville
Zoo.
A visit to the Zoo helps to
bring classroom lessons to
life for students. One teacher
wrote, “Every year, there are
a handful of students who
have never been to the Zoo.
This year, when I announced
the trip, a little boy rushed
forward and hugged me,
exclaiming, “I’ve never been
to the Zoo! Thank you! Thank
you!” He knows what the
Zoo is, but has never been
able to go. At least half of my
class would be unable to pay
for the trip without assis-
tance from Zoo Kids, Inc.”
Zoo Kids, Inc. is a program
which offers fi nancial as-
sistance to subsidize educa-
tional fi eld trips to the Zoo
for schools and non-profi t
organizations serving a large
percentage of underprivi-
leged children. If you would
like to make a contribution to
support this initiative, please
contact us at (502) 238-5386
or make a gift online at Lou-
isvilleZoo.org/donate.
Please consider a donation
today to help us continue to in-
spire others. Visit us online at
LouisvilleZoo.org/donate. (Please select Zoo Kids,
Inc. in the Gift Designation
portion of the online giving
portal to allocate your gift to
this program.)
Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Summer 2017 • 25