'Love the Zoo' project beautifies, cleans Clovis zoo
May 14—Despite the rain and chilly weather, 30 volunteers came together to improve Hillcrest Park Zoo on Saturday.
Zoo Director Stephanie Chavez said volunteers were split into teams at the Love the Zoo event, "to divide and conquer" the projects planned.
"It was something where I even got emotional. Seeing everyone out in the rain, cold and wet, they were still smiling the entire time. It made me so happy and grateful to be a part of a community that loves their zoo so much," Chavez said.
Some of the projects included removing sticks from the fences near the entrance, removing tarps that were buried and picking up trash.
The volunteers planted over 50 plants and filled up every trash bin within the facility, Chavez said.
She said the Love the Zoo event is hosted every year, but this was the first time she hosted it as zoo director.
"It was a lot of fun and I'm so grateful to everybody," Chavez said.
Chavez said not every planned project was completed, due to the rain.
"We're gonna have a Love the Zoo event part two, so we can finish the painting, finish the gardening and of course picking up trash again. We have people who are very happy to come back and hopefully the weather will be on our side next time," Chavez said.
Love the Zoo part two is scheduled June 1.
