{"id":116744,"date":"2026-01-29T22:23:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/116744\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T22:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:23:28","slug":"zoo-new-york-receives-100000-donation-months-after-viral-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/116744\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoo New York receives $100,000 donation months after viral article"},"content":{"rendered":"

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Zoo New York received a $100,000 donation from an anonymous donor who was inspired by a New York Times article that brought national attention to the facility, Interim Executive Director Mark Irwin announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The donation arrived in the mail just hours before Irwin\u2019s appearance on 7News\u2019 7 After 6 program with Mark Mason Jr. The anonymous donor, located in the United States, spent months researching the zoo\u2019s mission after reading the October article.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an anonymous donor who read that article and wanted to do something to help animals and education,\u201d Irwin said. \u201cAnd they, over the last few months, have been looking into what we do and what we provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continued support from viral article<\/p>\n

The October New York Times<\/a> article generated an immediate surge in donations, with nearly 2,000 small contributions averaging $108 each coming through the zoo\u2019s PayPal account. The initial wave brought in more than $200,000, with additional donations arriving after the print version was published.<\/p>\n

Four months later, the zoo continues receiving monthly donations from supporters who set up recurring contributions. Irwin said the facility receives $2,000 to $3,000 monthly from these ongoing donations, with individual contributions ranging from $10 cash donations mailed to the zoo to larger checks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re well over $400,000 from the donations,\u201d Irwin said. \u201cAnd so this is probably right around getting us up to $500,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board oversight and budget planning<\/p>\n

The Thompson Park Conservancy board of directors will determine how the major donation is allocated within the zoo\u2019s budget. The facility operates multiple departments, including food service, a gift shop, education programs, animal care, veterinary services, and business offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board sets the direction, the strategic direction that we want to go with the zoo,\u201d Irwin said. \u201cAnd they\u2019ll apply it in a way that works for that purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irwin emphasized that the zoo\u2019s priority remains maintaining stable operations while exploring ways to better serve the community and enhance its mission.<\/p>\n

Free admission weekend<\/p>\n

Zoo New York will offer free admission this weekend in partnership with Snowtown USA. The event coincides with Kids Day activities in Thompson Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something that I think is important for our community,\u201d Irwin said, noting the support from partners at the City of Watertown and Jefferson County.<\/p>\n

The zoo encourages visitors to follow its Facebook page<\/a> for animal videos and announcements, and to consider membership options available through its website.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WWNY. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Zoo New York received a $100,000 donation from an anonymous donor who was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8814,51599,12000,14969,12694,51603,12001,10865,51604,51598,9,11,10,51597,51601,44937,7941,51602,51596,51600,3904,8298],"class_list":["post-116744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-8814","tag-000-donation","tag-7-after-6","tag-donate","tag-donation","tag-free-admission-weekend","tag-full-interview","tag-interview","tag-kids-day","tag-mark-irwin","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-times-article","tag-recurring-contributions","tag-snowtown-usa","tag-thompson-park","tag-thompson-park-conservancy","tag-thompson-park-zoo","tag-viral-article","tag-wwny","tag-zoo-new-york"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}