World Lemur Day is celebrated on the last Friday of October. It’s a global call to action to bring together zoological institutions, conservation NGOs, supporting organisations, educators, and the public. Funds raised through World Lemur Day (and the World Lemur Festival) help to save these incredible, unique primates from extinction. Want to get involved? Check out our World Lemur Day web page for ideas!
World Lemur Day comes in many shapes and sizes. Check out these stories from two zookeepers who have gone above and beyond to create an engaging, effective celebration.
Brandon Gonzalez from the Houston Interactive Aquarium and Animal Preserve Spends a Week Fundraising for Lemurs — Two Years in a Row!
At Houston Interactive Aquarium and Animal Preserve, one enthusiastic keeper has organized a fundraiser for World Lemur Day for the past two years. With permission from the zoo, Brandon Gonzales set up a fundraising booth to promote World Lemur Day.
Brandon’s Inspiration
Brandon was inspired by his close friend and mentor, Zachary Perez, who worked with lemurs and was highly passionate about their conservation and care. Zach inspired Brandon to run their first fundraising booth for lemur conservation. Sadly Zach has since passed, but Brandon has carried on his passion for conservation.
How the Fundraiser Worked
In 2022, Brandon ran the booth over the last week of October and was able to raise $1300 in proceeds for the Lemur Conservation Foundation.
“I took a week off work unpaid on National Lemur Week,” Brandon told us. “This was my first animal fundraiser on my own. I had little stickers, candy and donated objects for donations, but our best idea was that we decided it’d be a fun and great way to raise proceeds with lemur paintings! We did enrichment with our lemurs and had them do paintings with animal-safe paint and a bunch of canvases with fruit everywhere.”
“On my first day of my first fundraiser, all of my lemur paintings sold out and I couldn’t have been more excited! The next day I had to get my coworkers to help me last minute to make even more lemur paintings to raise more proceeds!”
Going Bigger in 2023
When guests and colleagues asked if he was going to run the booth again, the answer was a resounding yes! The following year, Brandon set up a larger booth and included LCN resources such as those listed here. (In addition, he and his colleagues figured out some tricks to boost the artistic talents of their resident lemurs!)
Help from Friends and Colleagues Increased Impact
Sentimental donations also poured in from colleagues and friends. Items such as a large crochet ring-tailed lemur, drawings, paintings, postcards, stickers, wooden signs and potted plants featured on the second year’s stall, which raised over $2000 for the Lemur Conservation Network. Brandon also utilised his own creativity in the creation of raffle baskets, baskets of “lucky dip” lemur facts, and catchy slogans like “Roses for Ruffs” (which, naturally, involved fundraising with roses).
Through his outreach, Brandon came into contact with many people who were excited to help the cause, including STM_Studio15 (who helped to create conservation art for his booths) – and us here at the Lemur Conservation Network!
“Hopefully this is inspiring to other people who care and would love to raise proceeds for lemur conservation,” Brandon said. “If you try to reach out to people and you have a genuine passion and show it, someone will notice and hopefully be able to help out.”
Lori Komejan from the San Francisco AAZK Creates Fundraising Events Outside the Zoo
What about something outside the box? Lori Komejan, who works with the San Francisco AAZK, has put on many creative fundraising events to raise money and awareness for these special primates.
Silent Auction at a Local Pub
For example, Lori has organised silent auction events at a local pub! Pulling this off took some considerable planning; Lori approached the pub six months in advance, and recommends fundraiser organisers to be flexible with their dates. But the result was well worth it – the events raised money for conservation, and also brought in new future customers for the pub, which was a win-win. Lori asked if proceeds from a certain beer could go toward lemur conservation, and the pub agreed.
“Because I was doing the fundraiser for blue-eyed black lemur conservation, we selected a dark and an amber beer and referred to them as the blue-eyed brew,” Lori said. “All customers were made aware by selecting these particular brews they would be helping lemur conservation.
We made about $2,500 overall from silent auction and beer sells for each year at this location!”
Yoga
Lori has also organised yoga events for lemur conservation. As a licensed yoga instructor herself, Lori has previously provided lunchtime and after-work yoga sessions for the zoo crew – keeping is, after all, physically and mentally draining work, so the dose of self-care was very much appreciated! From there, she organised an event at a nearby lakeside park, complete with fairy lights and music. The event brought together many different departments – horticulture, maintenance, hospital and keeping staff – and was a great success.
Finding a Cause to Support
Much of Lori’s fundraising has been dedicated to a conservation group called Lemur Love, which Lori discovered by browsing conservation organisations on the LCN.
“I seriously didn’t have to look further than their mission statement,” Lori said.
“Protect lemurs, empower women, further science. The more I read about Dr. Marni LaFleur and her organisation, Lemur Love, the more I needed to help.”
Thank you, Lori and Brandon!
We owe a huge thanks to Lori and Brandon for creating fantastic World Lemur Day celebrations and making a tremendous impact for lemur conservation!
Want to plan your own event? Check out our resources for inspiration:
- Check out our PDF activity guide, Lemurs card game, and teaching resources! Our 41 page activity guide has 10 activities including a board game, trivia, coloring sheets, and masks, as well as a fun facts flyer to display at your event.
- See our World Lemur Day page for frequently asked questions, an event calendar, social media guide, participation guide and more.
- Visit out our World Lemur Day shops on TeeSpring and RedBubble for merchandise to promote these highly threatened primates.