Animal House

A few gray clouds could not deter the more than 500 people who joined HRC New England for Family Day at the Zoo, June 28, at Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. Dads and dads, moms and moms, lots of kids of all sizes, and even a few grandparents, friends and allies as well as singles and couples even without kids strolled alongside the animals and one another for a really fun day.

As if hanging out with the lions and tigers, giraffes and gorillas, emus and kangaroos wasn’t enough fun, guests also enjoyed a scavenger hunt, sidewalk chalk drawing, and encounters with some of the zookeepers, who could answer questions like, ‘Can emus fly?’ (Answer: no!)

Never wanting to send away our guests empty-handed, attendees also left with XM Radio gift bags that included HRC and Zoo membership information, I-Tunes gift cards from the True Colors tour, and LGBT foster parenting/adoption information from our DSS colleagues.   

Beyond the fun and games, however, was the serious business of fundraising, which was a success. In addition to the community outreach, we accrued $5,000 towards our community events goals thanks to the support of our corporate sponsor, Citizens Bank. We also received significant marketing support from our media sponsor, Bay Windows.  The Zoo event marked another great team effort by the Steering Committee, as well as our group of non-SC volunteers (who were exceptional). 

We never do it alone

Special thanks to the SC members who worked the event: Christine (the events COO),
David (who even hopped a fence to join us!), Jill (who knew just about everyone who walked through the gate), Joanne (the first fence hopper and official photographer), Pam (nobody recruits volunteers better) and Chris Flynn (returning stalwart and guest engagement manager).

Thank you as well to Matthew Bacon, Matthew Evans and Terri Rutter for their great work on creating and executing the marketing elements of the event. Finally, here’s a shout-out to Kalina Duncan for her handholding and management of DC-based communications during the weeks leading up to the event.

There’s more!
Mark your calendars for HRC Family Day at the Zoo Suburb Edition, September 20th at Stone Zoo in Stoneham. Stay tuned here for more details.