In front of the penguin pond on a recent chilly morning, representatives of the Lehigh Valley Zoo and Christmas Décor holiday decorations company attended a check presentation to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley.

The money was raised on “Monday FUNDday,” a special opening of the zoo’s Winter Lights Spectacular Christmas show Dec. 23, 2019.

For every ticket sold at the entrance that night, the Zoo and Christmas Décor donated $2 to PCFLV, and additional donations were also collected at donation boxes throughout the zoo.

In total, the event raised $8,300 for PCFLV, a nonprofit which provides free programs and services – including financial assistance, support groups, entertainment events and day camps, and monthly visits to infusion centers and clinics - to children with pediatric cancer and their families across the Lehigh Valley.

Matt Provence, chief operating officer with the Lehigh Valley Zoo, said this special opening allowed the community to come forward and support a good cause.

“That allowed for not only more than 3,000 people to come through, but for us working together through a partnership to open up to provide a donation to the PCFLV, right here in the Lehigh Valley,” Provence said during the ceremony, which was livestreamed on Facebook.

After introducing his partners in the fundraising effort, Christmas Décor owner Ken Divers and Michelle Zenie, executive director of the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley, Provence gave the cue and Radley the sea turtle, the zoo’s conservation mascot, emerged from the administration building to present the big donation check to Zenie.

“This is amazing, we really appreciate it,” Zenie said as she accepted the giant check from Radley.

She thanked the community for supporting the PCFLV and gave insight into the positive impact the donation would make.

“Just to put it in perspective, this size donation, this is the amount of money it takes for us to run one week of summer camp for our kids,” she said.

“It really is incredibly impactful for our programming and for what we can do for families in the Lehigh Valley that have a child with cancer, so thank you.”

Provence and Zenie also gave credit to PCFLV’s Marketing and Community Relations Coordinator Tracy Stauffer for organizing and energizing the donation effort.

“Tracy is our marketing and community relations coordinator, and also a cancer mom like myself, so it’s very personal to Tracy as well as to me, and again this really is incredibly impactful for us,” Zenie said.

“When we first had the idea her vision, her energy, her passion for your cause really helped fuel our ability to get this done,” Provence added.

Divers thanked attendees for supporting PCFLV’s cause and gave credit to the Winter Lights Spectacular crew members for organizing the Dec. 23, 2019 display.

“We have a great crew, and I want to thank everybody for coming out and supporting this, especially on short notice,” Divers said during the presentation. “It really turned out to be a successful event.”

Divers also told The Press that although his company has partnered with the zoo for the past six seasons to present the holiday spectacle, this was the first time they had worked together with PCFLV.

“We opened up on a special night to be able to give back to this special organization in the Lehigh Valley and show support for what they do, and that was just really great,” Divers explained. “We hope to be doing more with them in the future.”

Provence said that as the zoo’s largest annual fundraiser, the Winter Light Spectacular was the perfect event to turn into a donation event for the PCFLV, especially around the holiday period.

“It seemed like a good time; schools were out, families were at home, Christmas right around the corner, we though it could be a good opportunity to get the community behind us and involved for a good cause,” he said. “I’m glad it worked out.”

He also praised the community’s support for the foundation and its support for children with cancer, noting that although the Dec. 23, 2019, opening was organized on short notice, the turnout and positive response far exceeded initial expectations.

“We were able to pull it together, all the people that came together in the community was just amazing,” Provence said. “You could see the cars and the headlights up along the mountain, and the number of people that said they came here and specifically wanted to support this organization and fight cancer, that was just incredible.”

Zenie said that the Winter Light Spectacular was a great first partnership experience between her nonprofit and the zoo, and she looked forward to the two organizations hopefully working together again in the future.

“The tie-in was great, it works really well with our demographic,” Zenie told The Press after the ceremony.

“We always do kid programming, field trips, family events, so I could definitely see us having some of our events or programs out here at the zoo.”