Volume 2, No. 16. August 23, 2002
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Lemon
aide
When
it comes to taking on an international conservation mission, the Bronx Zoo in
New York City has found that using a celebrity with a catchy name and a familial
connection to the crisis is the best way to raise awareness and achieve a monetary
goal.
Begun July 9, “The Pattycake Fund” aimed to raise $250,000 by the
end of this month, all the money going to combat the bushmeat crisis in Africa
where poachers are illegally hunting gorillas for food. The fund is named for
Pattycake, the first gorilla born in New York City 30 years ago who gained much
more celebrity in her hometown by giving birth to nine babies, including twins
in 1994, thereby becoming the subject of an FAO Schwarz plush doll three years
ago.
The fund raiser worked on several levels. Pattycake’s home, the Congo Gorilla
Forest opened at the zoo in 1999, charges a $3 admission fee, and at the end
of the exhibit guests may vote to earmark their admission to one of four conservation
efforts—western gorillas, okapi, mandrills or other wildlife. All the money
voted for gorillas, annually the most popular vote getter, went into The Pattycake
Fund during the campaign. Meanwhile, a pop-up window on the zoo’s web site
caught the attention of New York philanthropist Robert W. Wilson, who offered
a dollar-for-dollar matching grant for all money raised by The Pattycake Fund.
Signs around the zoo promoting The Pattycake Fund garnered even more awareness,
specifically catching the attention of three girls from Mamaroneck, Connecticut,
who were visiting the zoo on a school trip. “We saw the gorillas and read
about the way their habitat was being destroyed,” the two 9 1/2-year-old
friends and a 5 1/2-year-old sister wrote in a letter to the zoo. “We decided
to sell lemonade to help save the rainforest and the gorillas. We made as much
money as we could. Some people didn’t even want lemonade, they just donated
money. The amount came to $30.50. Please use this for the Pattycake Fund.”
That went toward the $114,000 raised through last weekend which, with Wilson’s
matching grant, brought the total to a goal-clearing $228,000. However, the
fund has been extended to the end of September, a month which will kick off
with a Pattycake birthday bash (she was born on September 3), that will include
birthday cake and favors, face painting, an African dance company and the announcement
of the name for Pattycake’s latest offspring, born on February 4, 2001.
The baby's name was chosen through a New York Daily New reader contest—the
same way Pattycake got her name 30 years ago, a name which now resonates with
her imperiled kin in Africa.
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