The Harvest Food and Outreach Center offered families a great way to take a break from their Christmas shopping by getting up close and personal with some beautiful wildlife from Extreme Animals of Florida. The Paws Against Poverty event last Saturday also featured a visit from Santa, represented by board member Don Drinkard, and some tasty holiday refreshments.
In lieu of an admission cost, the Harvest Center asked for unwrapped toys, which will be donated as presents to children in need on Christmas morning. In addition to filling Santa’s sleigh with toys, the center hoped to raise community awareness of the fight against hunger and poverty in Indian River County.
Extreme Animals brought 10 of its most popular hand-raised petting zoo critters for families to interact with. The selection included a baby red kangaroo, a lemur which liked crawling on heads, an assortment of bunnies, an African Fennac fox, a South American kinkajou and various reptiles, including a 100-pound python that seemed to like wrapping itself around each handler.
“They reached out to partner with us to do an event to help us raise awareness and toys for those in need who are working to get out of their current situations,” said Annabel Robertson, Harvest executive director. “One in two people in Indian River County are still suffering with financial need, especially at the holidays, which puts added economic burdens on families. We serve at least 500 families every day but today it is wonderful to see the children just enjoying the animals and sharing their joy with each other as they help out another child who is in need of a toy for Christmas.”
Equally as many adults as children enjoyed stroking the docile animals, while asking questions about their habits and backgrounds. Most people said that while they may have seen some of the animals on television or the internet, they had never before had an opportunity to get so close to them.
“This is why I do what I do,” said lead handler Michelle Wallenstein. “I love to see the kids and even the adults get to touch animals they have never been close to before. It just lights me up.”
Describing itself as a “zoo to you,” Extreme Animals brings wildlife to schools and events, providing an educational yet entertaining platform about the wonders of the animal world.
All the organization’s animals are trained to be comfortable around children and to be extensively held by handlers and guests alike.
“They are very mild-mannered animals who have been hand-raised since they were babies,” said Daniel Green, as he showed off a friendly black and white ruffed lemur. However, guests were reminded that they were still wild creatures. The fact was punctuated by having the small mammals removed from the area before the python was brought out, to ensure the snake wouldn’t be tempted to turn one of them into dinner.
At dusk, a brief candlelight vigil turned thoughts to the more than 40 percent of residents in the community who live in poverty or who work but do not earn enough to make ends meet. Harvest is striving to improve their lives through educational and employment skills training, case management and long-term food assistance.