Walk for Wildlife 2020 Recap

This past Saturday we wrapped up our first-ever Walk for Wildlife event. While it wasn’t the event we originally planned, it became a meaningful way for participants to connect (albeit virtually) for a common cause. Here is a little backstory:

The original idea behind Walk for Wildlife was to have a “walk-a-thon” type event to raise funds for the care and feeding of our animal ambassadors. What many people may not know is all our animals are “non-releasable,” or in other words, they can no longer survive on their own in the wild. Whether it be from human intervention or circumstances beyond their control, each one of our animals has a unique story that led them to Turtle Bay. What is so beautiful is that these animals still get a chance to show off their amazing wild abilities and educate guests year after year. Our team strives to give them the best quality life possible including time to roam around the grounds when the Park is closed to stretch their paws. 

Okay, back to Walk for Wildlife. With the original plan, participants would have a chance to complete a designated walk at the Park, dress up in wildlife inspired clothing, see our animal ambassadors along the way, and finish with a delicious pancake breakfast. We were even going to have Amanda Giese from Animal Planet’s Amanda to the Rescue show host the event! While we understood the importance of changing the event to keep our participants safe during the current pandemic, we were definitely a little disappointed after all the planning that went into it. But, our amazing Development and Animal departments didn’t let it get them down and immediately began creating a “virtual” event! With the new format, participants had a week to complete a 1-mile or 5K walk or run between July 27th and August 1st. We encouraged walkers and runners to dress up and share photos or videos from their experience. We were excited to see the photos that came in from runners trying to set PRs to families with wild face paintings. This event ended up bringing the community together after all. All the participants joined us on Saturday, August 1st for a delicious drive-thru breakfast provided by Shasta Dam Kiwanis Club along with greetings from the animal ambassadors they supported. Our participants would get that pancake breakfast after all! And Amanda Giese even provided a thoughtful thank you video we shared with all of our participants. 

Since the Walk wasn’t in-person, it took the drive-thru breakfast to really see the true size of the event. It was such a good feeling to see the over 100 participants drive through with smiling faces and glowing with excitement for the chance to see their favorite animal ambassadors up close. Plus, the Kiwanis Club cooked up some exceptionally fluffy pancakes—out of a mobile kitchen. I was impressed. It was quite the drive-thru experience with the animal department bringing out many of Turtle Bay’s ambassadors from Daintree the Jungle Carpet Python to our newest member, Tokala the Gray fox. Guests learned a little more about these special animals they supported as they slowly drove past them in their car. It was a day of smiles, laughs, and breakfast food. We are so thankful to have such dedicated supporters that help make all we do at Turtle Bay possible. We couldn’t do it without you! We also want to give a special thank you to our faithful volunteers and Shasta Dam Kiwanis Club for providing the breakfast.

If you didn’t get a chance to join Walk for Wildlife this time, don’t worry, there is always next year!