PRESS ROOM

 

For the 17th year, the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is leading an expedition to the heart of the Peruvian rainforest to deliver school supplies to rural communities along the Amazon River.

From April 11 to April 20, 2015, DZS staff members and volunteers from Michigan and around the country will distribute materials purchased with donations to the Peru Adopt-A-School program.

The volunteers – who travel to Peru at their own expense – will work with DZS staff passing out books, paper and supplies to hundreds of students in remote villages, enabling them to attend school and achieve a basic education with a focus on conservation.

On a second conservation expedition from April 18 to 27, 2015, volunteers will work in an established Amazon community to make much-needed improvements to an existing school building.

Donations for the Adopt-A-School program are accepted by the DZS on behalf of Conservacion de la Naturaleza Amazonica del Peru (CONAPAC). One hundred percent of every donation is used by CONAPAC to purchase school supplies in Iquitos, Peru, thus supporting the local economy, reducing purchasing costs and eliminating shipping costs.

During the 2013-14 school year, Peru Adopt-A-School donations provided more than 3,000 students and teachers with educational materials and training in 55 communities.

For more information or to make a donation to the Adopt-A-School program, contact DZS Curator of Education Claire Lannoye-Hall at clannoyehall@dzs.org or (248) 336-5803, or visit www.detroitzoo.org/adoptaschool.