NEW BEDFORD – BayCoast Bank has committed to a sponsorship of the Buttonwood Park Zoological Society in the amount of $250,000 in support of the Buttonwood Park Zoo’s new Animal Ambassador Building, the bank announced June 8.
The building will provide indoor and outdoor housing for animals in the zoo’s Animal Ambassador Program, an environmental education-based program that introduces attendees to wildlife through up-close exposure to animals.
According to a news release announcing the sponsorship, the education animals serve as ambassadors of their species and of wild animals in general.
“With the addition of this dedicated building, we can expand this program’s impact and inspire future generations through direct contact with animals,” said Carrie Hawthorne, Buttonwood Park Zoological Society education curator, in a statement.
In addition to “a naturalistic outdoor encounter space,” which will provide guests the opportunity to closely observe animal ambassadors, the building will serve as a permanent home for dozens of injured and/or orphaned native wildlife species that could not be released back to the wild. It will be open to zoo guests and accessible to the public year-round.
In addition, the bank will be the official sponsor of the zoo’s train, the Black Bear Express, through 2021. For the next three years the train will be named the BayCoast Bank Black Bear Express and will feature a recorded greeting message from BayCoast Bank President and CEO Nicholas Christ.
“Buttonwood Park Zoological Society is a gem for the South Coast community, and we are so happy to support this great initiative, which fits in well with our continuing mission to support community education,” Christ said in prepared remarks.
BayCoast Bank has locations in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
