Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's Winter Wildland Event Supports Community Families, Colorado Springs, Colorado
12/5/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sean Anglum
Public Relations Manager
Cheyenne Mt. Zoo
633-9925 ext. 140
228-2077 pager
sanglum@cmzoo.org
CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO’S
WINTER WILDLAND EVENT
SUPPORTS COMMUNITY FAMILIES
Every Winter WildLand Visit Helps Local Families
December 2, 2008 – This season, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is proud to support the community efforts of Community Partnership for Child Development (CPCD) with a unique “giving back” program.
It was announced today that America’s mountain Zoo will be working with CPCD to turn the popularity of its newly retooled Winter WildLand holiday event into benefits for hundreds of Head Start families in the Pikes Peak region. The community can assist in this effort by making a visit to the Zoo’s traditional Holiday season event. With each visit to Winter WildLand, guests help a Head Start family through CPCD have a special experience at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in 2009.
The Zoo will give Zoo tickets for a family fun day in 2009 to CPCD when certain attendance levels are reached at the annual event. When the Winter WildLand total attendance reaches 5,000 guests, the Zoo will serve 50 Head Start families with a special visit to the Zoo. When attendance hits 10,000 guests, another 50 families will be served. Then, with each following increment of 5,000 guests attending Winter WildLand, another 100 families will be served. Ultimately, up to 500 Head Start families through CPCD could benefit with a special family visit and experience to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
A special Christmas tree is located in the front admission plaza of the Zoo to help record the efforts of this program. With each group of families receiving Zoo visits, corresponding ornaments will be placed on the tree. With the Christmas tree serving as a graph, Winter WildLand guests will be able to keep track of the progress of this ground-breaking initiative.
This initiative is unique in that it involves one local non-profit organization assisting another. “Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is proud to be working with a great community partner such as CPCD and its Head Start programs,” said Bob Chastain, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo President and CEO. “We believe in the value of families spending time together and this is a special opportunity to make this happen at the Zoo for hundreds of local families who might not otherwise be able to visit us.”
Noreen Landis-Tyson, President and CEO of Community Partnership for Child Development stated, “We appreciate Cheyenne Mountain Zoo joining CPCD to educate children, strengthen families and build our community. This is a rare opportunity for many of our families to spend a day together at the Zoo with all it has to offer. We hope the entire community joins this effort to support the good work of our two organizations.”
Head Start is a comprehensive preschool and family program. They provide an exceptional early childhood education complimented by health and social services for the whole family. Head Start families benefit from access to a variety of community resources, diverse parent education programs and other family support services to strengthen the family. Locally, Community Partnership for Child Development administers the Head Start, Early Head Start and Colorado Preschool program.
Winter WildLand at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo runs Thursdays through Sundays from December 5 through January 4 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. (the last admission is at 8 p.m.) each night. With thousands of lights, holiday characters, story telling and the opportunity to make gifts for the animals and accompany Santa as he delivers your presents, the Zoo is bustling with activities at this season’s Winter WildLand.
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