Our kids received a special visit from zoo ambassador Rick Schwartz, pictured above with philanthropist T. Denny Sanford and our director of operations Gabi Rivers.
Thanks to their generosity, San Diego’s Ronald McDonald House is the first of 343 Ronald McDonald Houses worldwide to have the San Diego Zoo Kids channel!
Educational Programs and Live Webcams
With generous funding from T. Denny Sanford and in partnership with San Diego Zoo Global, Ronald McDonald House families can now watch educational programs and live webcams of animals at the San Diego Zoo from the comfort of their rooms.
San Diego Zoo Kids channel features programming about unique and endangered animal species. It includes new prerecorded educational segments and draws on extensive footage from its archives and live webcams. It is now available at a handful of children’s hospitals across the country.
Zoo Program Benefits
So far, doctors and nurses report that patients who watch the webcams seem to experience positive benefits, like needing less pain medication and healing faster. Installing this channel at the Ronald McDonald House is a perfect next step in helping families experience the benefits of engaging with the world of animals—a world that is otherwise so distant from the hospital environment.
Special Thanks
We extend our special thanks to Denny Sanford for inspiring the creation of this channel and making it happen for the benefit of our children and families. So too, we thank Doug Dawson, a trustee of both the Ronald McDonald House and San Diego Zoo Global, and trustee Travis Alegria, for helping to facilitate the installation of San Diego Zoo Kids channel at our House.
Comments