GRAEF Nominated Zoological Society for Nonprofit Excellence Award Zoological Society Honored

The Zoological Society of Milwaukee was honored Friday morning as a finalist for the Large Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award at the BizTimes Nonprofit Excellence Awards Breakfast.

The event attracted a crowd of more than 450 people and was held at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee.

GRAEF nominated the Zoological Society for the award. Zoological Society President and CEO Jodi Gibson accepted the award, and GRAEF CEO and President John Kissinger shared in the moment at the program.

To view the list of the finalists for the awards, visit https://biztimes.com/annual-events/nonprofit-excellence-awards.

Meanwhile, Happy and Patti, the Milwaukee County Zoo’s 38-year-old male and 49-year-old female hippos, will move into their new home in the summer of 2020 as the Milwaukee County Zoo, in partnership with the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, continues its Adventure Africa campaign.

GRAEF provided the engineering and design for the zoo’s new hippo exhibit.

With the $13.5 million hippo campaign, the Milwaukee County Zoo joins an elite list of just 12 zoos in the country to have an underwater viewing tank for its hippos.

Hippos spend an estimated 16 hours a day underwater, and the new addition, similar to the zoo’s polar bear and harbor seals underwater exhibits, will give zoo visitors a new experience.

A key component of the hippo exhibit design is a filtration system that will conserve about 20 million gallons of water annually.

For more, read this article in the Milwaukee Business Journal: https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2019/10/31/milwaukee-county-zoo-expects-new-hippo-exhibit-to.html