Zoo Atlanta Gets $250K Coca-Cola Foundation Grant

The Coca-Cola Foundation awarded a $250,000 grant to , that the Grant Park attraction will use to fund educational and community outreach programs.

The zoo's efforts are designed to raise its accessibiltity to the wider community.

The grant is part of $26 million in awards the Coca-Cola Foundation gave to 85 organizations in the first quarter of this year, including 14 in the Atlanta area.

The foundation's grant supports three key zoo programs:

• Through the Sponsored Admissions Initiative, more than 172,000 students in metro Atlanta school systems will receive subsidized visits to participate in science education offered by the zoo.
• The Zoo ACCESS program targets underprivileged families, the elderly and individuals with limited resources, and provides an access pass that can be used at any time.
• Through the VSA Arts of Georgia Partnership, complimentary admission tickets to arts and cultural events and venues will be made available to human services organizations serving the disabled, disadvantaged and/or institutionalized individuals.

"The Coca-Cola Foundation has been supporting educational programs since our earliest beginnings," Wanda Y. Rodwell, the Coca-Cola Co.'s Communications Director for Global Community Connections, told East Atlanta Patch.

Last year, for example, the foundation funded more than $19 million in education-related funding worlwide.

"Education is at the core of nearly every program Zoo Atlanta offers, whether through instructor-led programs or the peripheral learning that every visitor experiences," Rodwell said.