How Sweet It Is! An Update on the High Park Zoo Closure

One would certainly expect a foundation called The Honey Family Foundation to be as sweet as its namesake, and for us, they are!

In my last post around the closure of our beloved High Park Zoo, I had hoped that we would rally and try and save the zoo and our citizens have indeed done that! The zoo has already raised $40,380 through online donations, community fundraisers and donations from zoo-goers, which will allow it to stay open until June.  But in an announcement on Monday evening, The Honey Family Foundation offered to match donations to the zoo fund of up to $50,000.



Photo: Save the Zoo by Francis Wallace, The Toronto Star



And furthermore, whatever funds we raise over 2013 and 2014 will also be matched up to $50 000.  What I find particularly inspiring about this donation is the spirit behind it.  It is a ‘wise’ gift – as long as we care about our zoo, and continue to support it and raise funds for it over the next two years (enough time I might add to get our zoo back into the city budget!), we can count on this money.  It lifts up our efforts and pushes them forward – as opposed to simply eliminating the problem altogether and allowing us to ‘forget’ our responsibility to uphold those things we claim dear.

 

I did try to find out a little about the Honey Family Foundation, I thought for sure there’d be a website somewhere for their organization but there’s not a lot to be found – there’s an Esther Honey Foundation in the Cook Islands who run a voluntary veterinary clinic – oddly enough – and they had this picture (to the right) on their website…

It seems our donation has come from a “quiet, local” group of citizens and that’s pretty much all we know.  No need for a ceremony with a cheque or a name on a plaque at the gates or a photo session with the new baby llama (born April 3^rd at our zoo).  Just a good old fashioned helping hand and nothing expected in return.

I’d like my thanks to be loud and clear.

We still have some work to do!  Contributions must be made through the city’s Parks and Trees Donations Account by June 15^th in order to be matched by the Honey Family Foundation. Let’s keep going!

Click here to make a donation: Toronto Parks and Trees Organization - Donations to High Park Zoo