Party for the Planet® Awards Grants Connecting Families to Nature

Twelve AZA-Accredited Facilities Receive Funds

Silver Spring, Md. ― This year, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has awarded Party for the Planet® grants totaling $95,000 to 12 projects led by AZA-accredited facilities. AZA is in its sixth year of the Party for the Planet® campaign with support from the Disney Conservation Fund.

"From Earth Day to World Ocean Day, this campaign, with the generous support of the Disney Conservation Fund, leverages the reach and resources of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums to clean, connect, and conserve by providing family-friendly volunteer and conservation action opportunities that focus on creating healthy habitats to improve our planet, like planting a pollinator garden or cleaning up a nearby waterway," said Dan Ashe, president and chief executive officer of AZA.

For the past 25 years, the AZA community has celebrated our planet with Party for the Planet events in the largest combined Earth Day (22 April), Endangered Species Day (20 May), and World Ocean Day (8 June) celebration in North America.

Party for the Planet offers families unique opportunities to visit their local AZA-accredited zoo and aquarium, celebrate the Earth 's biodiversity, and learn how they can take action to make a difference. Scheduled Party for the Planet events include education and conservation presentations, keeper talks, and environmental activities.

More information about AZA 's Party for the Planet can be found at www.aza.org/party-for-the-planet.

2024 Party for the Planet Grant Recipients

Assiniboine Park Conservancy
Winnipeg, Manitoba
$10,000
Assiniboine Park is hosting a series of events with community partners to engage the public on species conservation, climate action, and traditional Indigenous knowledge. Visitors will be invited to take part in hands-on conservation through events such as a Bioblitz and a shoreline cleanup.

Chattanooga Zoo
Chattanooga, Tenn.
$5,000
Chattanooga Zoo is teaming up with community partner, Reflection Riding, for a three-part volunteer service project focused on practical environmental actions. Participants will engage in invasive species removal, waterway cleanup, and the creation of pollinator spaces at both locations.

Henry Vilas Zoo
Madison, Wisc.
$10,000
Henry Vilas Zoo is creating a new Kids Garden that will feature a pollinator garden, sensory garden, and nature playscape. We will be hosting a planting party, tree climbing, and educational event on May 4th to celebrate with our community partners.

Honolulu Zoo
Honolulu, Hawaii
$5,000
On Saturday, 13 April 2024, more than two dozen community partners will be participating in the Honolulu Zoo Society's Party for the Planet held at the Honolulu Zoo. This annual event helps local conservation partners raise awareness in the endangered species capital of the world. In addition to empowering visitors with ways to reduce wildlife trafficking, expand pollinator habitat, and limit invasive species in their own homes, there will also be opportunities to sign up with community partners to make a difference in the field through volunteer habitat restoration and beach cleanup events.

North Carolina Zoo
Asheboro, N.C.
$10,000
The North Carolina Zoo is working with community partners to offer STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, art, and math) programs in Kidzone throughout April. It will also be working with other community partners who provide after-school care to plant pollination stations and to conduct community science projects at various wildlife preserves.

OdySea Aquarium
Scottsdale, Ariz.
$10,000
OdySea Aquarium will introduce local Title 1 Schools to the SHARK Mobile (Sustainable Habitats and Remote Knowledge Mobile) during Party for the Planet in 2024. The SHARK Mobile will visit schools to provide free educational opportunities as well as host on-site campus cleanups and pollinator plant placements.

Racine Zoo
Racine, Wisc.
$5,000
Guests of the Zoo will learn how they can help native pollinators through the sights, smells, and sounds of a new pollination garden. The Zoo will also collaborate with community partners to remove invasive plant species, lead a beach cleanup along the shores of Lake Michigan, host a pollinator-focused Party for the Planet "Zoorific" day, collect electronics for recycling, and donate unwanted clothing, shoes, and textiles.

Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
Columbia, S.C.
$10,000
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is collaborating with the Richland County Library System to host conservation action events, a speaker series, and collection and branch enhancements at several library branches. This multi-layered approach will increase the community 's connection to North American songbirds and improve the landscape for songbirds in Richland County.

Sequoia Park Zoo and Foundation
Eureka, Calif.
$10,000
Sequoia Park Zoo and Foundation will host Party for the Planet celebrations over three days to create native plantings and compost throughout the community, connect to nature with a community Bioblitz, and clean up by removing invasive plants in our SAFE species (western pond turtle) habitat.

St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
St. Augustine, Fla.
$5,000
The St. Augustine Alligator Farm is hosting a Party for the Planet celebration on 20 April at its Camp Croc Wildflower Garden. This one-day, six-hour event will bring together community partners to showcase how community members and neighborhoods can cultivate their own backyards and wild spaces for all native species to enjoy.

The Florida Aquarium
Tampa, Fla.
$10,000
The Florida Aquarium 's Party for the Planet community engagement events will focus on habitat restoration, invasive species removal, and family-friendly cleanups. Onsite and virtual activations―like a "conservation superhero creation station"―will be part of the celebration aimed at fostering environmental awareness and conservation action.

Virginia Living Museum
Newport News, Va.
$5,000
Environmental educators lead volunteers in community science and conservation field projects, including hands-on ecological restoration work and wildlife monitoring on the museum's 23-acre campus featuring woodlands and wetlands.

About AZA
Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, animal welfare, education, science, and recreation. AZA is the accrediting body for the top zoos and aquariums in the United States and six other countries. Look for the AZA accreditation logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. The AZA is a leader in saving species and your link to helping animals all over the world. To learn more, visit www.aza.org.

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