Item - 2020.ZB8.12

The Board of Management of the Toronto Zoo:

1. Received this report for information.

The purpose of this report is to review and update the Board of Management on the activities of the Volunteering and Engagement Unit for the year 2019.  The volunteer team consists of Year-Round Volunteers, Summer Volunteers, Volunteer Hosts, Wildlife Health Centre Volunteers, and Zoo Ambassador Student Volunteers.  All volunteers support the Zoo's educational programs by interacting with guests, helping to raise public awareness and involvement in conservation, interpreting the zoogeographic and ecological relationships of the animal and plant kingdoms, and enhancing the experience of each Toronto Zoo guest with whom they come in contact.  In 2019, a team of 431 volunteers donated 39,088 hours of their time to the Toronto Zoo reaching an estimated 1,033,138 people.