Maryland Zoo Making Virtual Visits To Help Out Children's Hospital Patients
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Staff at the Maryland Zoo have been making some Zoom calls recently to brighten up children's hospital patients' days.
When 17-year-old Che Penn answered one of the calls Tuesday afternoon, noisy flapping African penguins appeared.
"They're so cute," Penn exclaimed.
The teen is a cancer patient at the Herman and Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai and has had the chance to do many different virtual meet-ups with animals from the zoo.
"I've had tortoises, I've had birds, I just had penguins. I've seen a lot of the zoo," she said.
The hospital has long been welcoming animals into the hospital but when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the virtual meet-ups were the only way for the patients to see the animals.
"Any time you're in a hospital, it's kind of probably not the best day," said Kristin VanBuskirk, the Maryland Zoo Education Manager. "So we're hoping to be able to spark a little bit of joy and kind of bring a smile to a kid's face."
VanBuskirk said that the virtual visits were already part of the zoo's programming before the pandemic began.
"It really makes my day," said Penn. "Especially on days when I don't feel like doing anything then I get a little visit and it's like aw okay."
For more info, visit: marylandzoo.org and click on the learn tab to learn more about all of the zoo's virtual programming.
