Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo putting on ’11th hour’ drive-in show fundraiser

By Mike Vlasveld

Little Ray's Reptile Zoo continues to struggling financially, so it's putting on a drive-in show with its animals in hopes of keeping the business going for a little while longer. 

“Countless businesses have been affected [by COVID-19] but one thing unique to us is that we have 27,000 sq ft of indoor space with over 800 animals needing care. We simply can not shut off the lights and come back in three months.” says Founder and CEO of Little Ray’s Nature Centres Paul Goulet.

The company says, despite thousands of donations pouring in over the last couple of weeks, its still “entering into its 11th hour,” so it's launching a new series of fundraisers with the help of Wesley Clover Parks, Videotron and DNA Live.

“Businesses and people in Ottawa and all over stepping up to help us during this time has been nothing short of unbelievable.” says Goulet. “For over 25 years we have provided community programming and we never really knew how much it reached the community until our greatest need for help hit.”

The team is set to put on physically distanced shows, starting July 11 in Wesley Clover Parks' new drive-in movie theatre, with all proceeds covering the zoo's cost of animal food, staffing, vet care, heating and cooling, and other brick and mortar expenses. 

The zoo says there will be daily 45-minute shows scheduled for 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. — gates open one hour before each showing. 

Tickets cost $40 per car or $65 per car, which includes prime parking and animals escorted between the rows of vehicles for a closer look.

Anyone looking to simply make a donation to Little Ray's can do so here.

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