MULTI MEDIA NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 10, 2019

MEDIA CONTACTS: 
Tricia Tomiyoshi                                                
Sr. Public Information Officer                             
UC Davis Children’s Hospital                            
Office: (916) 734-9706                          
Cell: (916) 893-6718

Stacey Hodge
Sr. Director of Community Relations
Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California
Cell: (916) 806-7288

San Diego Zoo Global
Public Relations 
Office: (619) 685-3291                                      

Laurel Vincent
Public Relations and Marketing Manager
Sacramento Zoo
Cell: (530) 513-0495                                            

MULTIMEDIA NEWS RELEASE

San Diego Zoo Kids TV Begins Broadcasting at UC Davis Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California

          Young patients, their families and invited guests were treated to a visit with some amazing animal ambassadors—including a hedgehog, a great horned owl, and a blue and gold macaw from the Sacramento Zoo—at a gathering at UC Davis Children’s Hospital earlier today (Jan. 10, 2019). This special event was held to announce the arrival of San Diego Zoo Kids, a closed-circuit television adventure channel, at UC Davis Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California.

          San Diego Zoo Kids is an innovative television channel with programs produced primarily for medical facilities that serve pediatric patients and their families. The creation and development of the channel has been funded by businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford. In 2017, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded San Diego Zoo Global an outstanding Museums for America grant to bring San Diego Zoo Kids to 75 children’s hospitals and Ronald McDonald House Charities facilities across the nation over the next three years. The generous grant from IMLS has made the channel available on TV monitors at UC Davis Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California.

          San Diego Zoo Kids’ programming offers family friendly, animal-oriented stories that are both entertaining and educational. “UC Davis Children’s Hospital is proud to partner with the San Diego Zoo to provide entertaining and educational programming about animals for our pediatric patients during their hospitalization,” said Judie Boehmer, executive director of patient care services at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. “San Diego Zoo Kids TV gives kids a chance to escape the confines of their illness or injury, and experience a virtual animal adventure.”

          The channel also features animal stories from the Sacramento Zoo. “The Sacramento Zoo is very excited to be partnering with San Diego Zoo Kids to bring fun and unique stories about animals to children who might not be able to visit the zoo due to illness or injury,” said Jason Jacobs, executive director of the Sacramento Zoo. “We hope that this collaboration showcasing the amazing world of animals will bring smiles to the young patients during their time in the hospital.”

          “The San Diego Zoo Kids channel is a wonderful and generous gift to the Sacramento Ronald McDonald House. For the children and families staying at the House, it provides a much-needed respite from the hospital,” said Stacey Hodge, Sr. Director of Community Relations. “We are excited our families can take a much-needed break and connect with the animals of the San Diego Zoo.”

          The San Diego Zoo Kids channel offers up-close video encounters with animals, stories about caring for animals, quizzes about animals and habitats, and a wide variety of short video vignettes hosted by San Diego Zoo Global ambassador Rick Schwartz and San Diego Zoo Kids hosts Olivia Degn and Michelle Myers. Viewers can see best-of videos from the San Diego Zoo’s famous Panda Cam and other online cameras, as well as content from other zoos across the world.

          “We continue to be humbled by the healing properties of San Diego Zoo Kids,” said Debra Erickson, director of communications, San Diego Zoo Global. “Parents and caregivers share that the channel, which has no commercials or inappropriate content, not only calms children but makes them happy.”

          San Diego Zoo Kids debuted in 2013 at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Since then, it has been installed in 198 children’s hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses in 38 states across the U.S. and the District of Columbia, and in facilities in Mexico, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Qatar and Curaçao.

About UC Davis Children’s Hospital
UC Davis Children's Hospital is the Sacramento region's only nationally ranked, comprehensive hospital providing care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults with primary, subspecialty and critical care. It includes the Central Valley's only pediatric emergency department and level I pediatric trauma center, which offers the highest level of care for its critically ill patients, as well as a level I children’s surgery center. The 129-bed children's hospital includes the state-of-the-art 49-bed neonatal and 24-bed pediatric intensive care and pediatric cardiac intensive care units. For more information, visit children.ucdavis.edu.

About Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California
Ronald McDonald House Charities® Northern California is dedicated to supporting programs that improve the lives of children and their families by supporting the Sacramento Ronald McDonald House and Camp Ronald McDonald at Eagle Lake. While the owners of McDonald's restaurants generously contribute to the Charity, the majority of financial support comes from community donations, corporate sponsorships and special events.

About Sacramento Zoo
Open since 1927, the Sacramento Zoo is home to nearly 500 native, rare and endangered animals and is one of more than 200 institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The Sacramento Zoo is proud to inspire appreciation, understanding and respect for all living things through stimulating educational opportunities, wholesome recreation, and compassionate and innovative animal care. Located near the corner of Land Park Drive and Sutterville Road in William Land Park, the zoo is wholly managed by the nonprofit Sacramento Zoological Society. This Sacramento treasure inspires conservation awareness through education and recreation. Daily admission is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., zoo grounds are open until 5 p.m. For information, call 916-808- 5888 or visit saczoo.org.

About San Diego Zoo Global
Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global. As a leader in conservation, the work of San Diego Zoo Global includes on-site wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, as well as international field programs on six continents. The work of these entities is made accessible to children through the San Diego Zoo Kids network, reaching out through the internet and in children’s hospitals nationwide. The work of San Diego Zoo Global is made possible by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and is supported in part by the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global.

###