Houston Zoo donates over 1,800 plushies for children at Texas Medical Center

Effort was part of SSA Group’s Love One, Give One campaign.

Houston Zoo Store is literally close to its mission to provide the highest standard of care to the animals it stewards and the community that supports the second most visited zoo in the United States.

During the holidays, the Houston Zoo Store’s campaign through retail and hospitality partner SSA Group resulted in donating 1,876 plush lovies to Texas Medical Center’s Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, located right across the street.

“This is by far our largest fundraiser,” says Bennie Schuchart, general manager of retail and hospitality operations at the zoo.

SSA Group is committed to sustainability and charitable initiatives across the zoo, aquarium and cultural venues it serves. During 10 years with partners, SSA Group launched the industry-first Circular Plush Program with Wild Republic and Terracycle at seven locations, including Houston Zoo. The Love One, Gift One holiday donation drive celebrated nearly 8,129 donations during the holidays — crushing its goal of donating 5,000.

At Houston Zoo, staff loaded vans full of plushies and filled shopping carts with huggable gifts to walk to the children’s hospital. Kiddos struggling to stay well were gifted with the ever-popular capybara plush along with zoo favorites including red pandas, baby elephants, jaguars and giraffes.

With vibrant signage, training for staff to promote the cause and discounted plushies, the store set a zoo record for the charitable campaign.

“It was exciting for us and for the guests because so many were happy to be a part of the effort,” says Schuchart.

Promotion came naturally for the charitable campaign, Schuchart says. Signage was a given, but Houston Zoo Store also leveraged a high-traffic season when temps are cooler. Schuchart says.

Store staff members were trained to talk about the give-back plushies to get the word out. “We have happy, energetic, smiling faces that love to express the good we are doing here,” Schuchart says. “We offered extra training and talked to staff about making this effort a part of our every day.”

Initiatives like the plushy donation program inspire other ways for Houston Zoo Store staff to give back.

The zoo’s team from the store and across the organization get together for events like volunteer beach cleanups, Schuchart says, appreciating the zoo’s mission and education it provides employees about conservation efforts.

“I’ve learned so much about what happens behind the scenes for the animals and environment, from the way we compost to reduce waste to being one of the first zoos to not allow any plastic,” he says with pride.

“The small stuff really does matter.”