The past year has been a busy one for the Brookfield
AAZK chapter and a year of many 'firsts'.
In February 2007 we hosted our first annual spaghetti
dinner which raised about $350 after expenses.
Over 100 people attended the event, most of which
were the zoo's docents.
At the 2007 volunteer appreciation dinner we got a
chance to return the favor. A few of our members
volunteered to help with the dinner. It was a
chance for us, as keepers, to show our support of
our docents and volunteers, who do so much for
the zoo and our chapter.
Our next big event was Bowling for Rhinos. We
challenged the Lincoln Park Chapter to see who could
raise more money for BFR. Sadly for us the
Lincoln Park Chapter raised more than our total of
$2723. We treated the winners to pizza at a
restaurant in Chicago.
Last summer we worked with the Brookfield Zoo to
coordinate the first annual Enrichment Day.
Keeper chats and tram rides for the day focused
on the enrichment that our animals receive and
explained its importance to animal welfare. We
also had stations set up around the zoo so
visitors could make and experience some of the
enrichment used around the park.
Over the summer we participated in the Terracycle
company's Bottle Brigade program. The company
reuses plastic soda bottles to package their all
natural fertilizer. Unfortunately the
company's production is on hold until they find a
corporate sponsor.
In June we invited Kay McCeen to do an evening
lecture at the zoo. Kay is head of a program
called SCARCE. They are a local conservation
organization with a wealth of knowledge on
reusing and recycling household items. We were
also invited to take a tour of the facility.
At the suggestion of member John Matuszek we hosted
our first annual 'Putting for Bugs', which
was a mini golf event that benefited the
invertebrate TAG. We donated $300 to this TAG
following the event.
Thanks to member Bill Steele we were able to
participate in a clean up of the Salt Creek which
runs through the zoo's property. This was a
fun event for all that participated and it
directly benefited the zoo and the local
community through which the creek flows.
Another fun event planned by Bill Steele was a trip
to visit the Barnum and Bailey Circus while
they were in town. We were able to get a behind
the scenes view of the animal areas and learn
about animal management on the go. It was a
positive learning experience for all that
attended. After the tour we were invited to stay
for the show.
In October the chapter sponsored our liaison Carrie
Novosel to attend the AAZK conference in
Galveston, TX.
In December we started selling photos of Brookfield
Zoo animals in the zoo gift shop. The
matted photo has information about the individual
and about the species on the back of
the photo. This has been an exciting and fun
fundraiser for us. We would like to thank the zoo
for allowing us to do this project, as well
as staff photographer Jim Schulz, and
Holiday camera for their assistance. As of mid
January we had already made $363 on these photos.
Also throughout the year we do bake sales at our
monthly all-staff meetings. The zoo's staff has
been very supportive and now looks forward to the
treats that are provided before and after the
meeting. This year we raised $991.66 just from
these easy bake sales.
Our zoo director, Dr. Stuart Strahl, is thankfully
one of our biggest supporters. He makes a very
generous donation each year to be used for
keeper development.
Our fundraisers have allowed us to not only grow as
keepers through conference attendance, etc.,
but have given us an opportunity to donate to
both local and global conservation efforts. Some
of the money raised went to support Wild Aid, the
SCARCE facility, and the invertebrate TAG.
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