A New Brunswick organization has donated $21,500 towards Saint John’s Cherry Brook Zoo in an effort to help the facility after it experienced a significant loss in funding from the city.
READ MORE: Crowdfunding page started to save Cherry Brook Zoo
100 Women Who Care of Greater Saint John is made up of several women, who nominate three charities, four times a year. These charities come in and give a five minute pitch each, then the women vote for which they feel is most deserving.
This time, the women voted for Cherry Brooke Zoo.
“Well I guess I was hoping for it. I was hoping because the city, as in city council, chose not to give us any funds, I was hoping the city as a community would step forward in a way… which they have,” said Martha McDevitt, the zoo’s acting executive director.
Each 100 Women Who Care member donates a $100 check to the chosen charity. For the zoo, the amount totaled $21,500.
“I think Martha’s very emotional presentation showed her deep affection for the animals, and for their care and concern moving forward,” said co-founder Debbie Rathwell. “I think that her very strong message resonated with the majority of the women in the audience.”
READ MORE: Saint John’s Cherry Brook Zoo faces possible funding cut by city
In February, council voted to discontinue much of its funding for the zoo, which amounted to about $40,000 in 2017. The money would have gone towards helping the zoo in the lean winter months.
McDevitt said the zoo has more plans in store to keep providing services for the city.
“We have some new exhibits sort of in mind,” McDevitt said. “People who have already been and coming see that we have an enclosure that we’re looking at into making into a feeding… So people can come in and interact with the animals a lot closer.”
–With a file from Andrew Cromwell, Global News
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