If you’ve been looking for a chance to take the kids to Riverbanks Zoo & Garden before the summer is over, you’ll have a perfect chance to do so this Tuesday night. And even better, you can use the trip to contribute to a worthy cause that needs your help. But more on that in a moment.

Each summer, from June through August, Riverbanks Zoo & Garden hosts their Toucan Tuesday night. Each Tuesday, guests who visit Riverbanks receive buy-one get-one admission to the park and buy-one get-one regular sized ICEEs with a donation of two cans (or bags and boxes) of non-perishable food items.

And your donations will be worth it. Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is home to more than 3,000 animals and one of America’s best public gardens. It’s the perfect place to connect individuals, families and school children with the natural world, and the zoo is recognized as a global leader in animal care and welfare, education, recreation, science and wildlife conservation.

Plus, all donated food items go to Harvest Hope Food Bank, which is South Carolina’s largest food bank, providing over 21 million meals on average to neighbors in need across the Midlands, Pee Dee and Upstate.
The partnership between Riverbanks Zoo & Garden and Harvest Hope Food Bank is both a strong and long-lasting one that deserves a special spotlight as the zoo celebrates an auspicious occasion: This is their 50th Summer; Riverbanks opened back in April of 1974.

And in June, when Toucan Tuesdays returned to Riverbanks, inviting guests to donate two canned goods in exchange for a buy-one-get-one park admission, the event celebrated its own anniversary as well.

This program has been a staple at Riverbanks Zoo & Garden since its inception in 2010, and thanks to Toucan Tuesday, Riverbanks has collected an impressive amount of food for the Harvest Hope Food Bank.

In fact, by the time the last edition of Toucan Tuesday is over next week, Riverbanks anticipates reaching a milestone of 50,000 pounds of donated food collected over the last 14 years. And you can rest assured that there are plenty of needy families and individuals who need the help.

Harvest Hope Food Bank began in 1981 as the shared vision of business leaders and the faith community, who set out to provide for the hungry in Columbia. Since then, Harvest Hope has increased its mission to feed the hungry to cover 20 counties in South Carolina.

With a mission to eliminate food insecurity and hunger across S.C., Harvest Hope rescues nutritious food from stores throughout the state and distributes it to food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens. They also run emergency food pantries in Columbia where anyone in need can get a week’s supply of groceries for free.

The final night of the Toucan Tuesday series gives you a chance to see some of the most exotic wildlife and fauna in the world, all for a worthy cause. It sounds like it’s time for a trip to the zoo.