Extending Smiles through Animals

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Lynn Lyons. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Lynn Lyons volunteers at Toledo Zoo and Aquarium. After 26 years and 12,941 hours of service, Lynn continues to find her time spent educating guests rewarding. She enjoys teaching guests about animals and sharing her love for animals throughout the zoo.

Lynn has been a day captain for years and enjoys training new volunteers. She serves as a representative for the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents and Volunteers. In the past, she has planned and helped host the National Conference in 2022, which attracted 125 attendees from around the country.

She finds joy in finding new ways to get people involved with animals and helping Toledo Zoo and Aquarium.

What inspires you to volunteer?

My inspiration comes from my love for animals and my desire to educate people about them, particularly their status or plight in the wild and how we can help to save them.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Toledo Zoo & Aquarium.

We are called Zoo Ed. We’re adult education volunteers. So, my role is to talk to people and showcase exhibits about the animals. I’m not a trained educator, so I don’t teach classes or anything like that. But I can help out in other areas. In the past, I had also helped out with the elephant and gorilla keepers. I also did data for the registrar of the zoo. That was several years ago now. And I always tell people it’s the best thing I ever did for myself.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

Eventually, if I retire, I will spend more time there. Currently, I’m just there on Saturdays and Sundays.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

I’ve had some great experiences over the years. I saw our first baby elephant 21 years ago. I sat briefly with him when the keepers were busy with his mother. I had a less-than-ten-day-old baby elephant taking a nap with his head in my lap. I’ve also gotten to hand-raise a baby gorilla and one baby orangutan.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

I’ve learned a lot about animals. I realized I loved them more than I knew when I entered the industry 26 years ago. But I have also learned that people do have a passion for animals. I like to hear stories about the animals, their names, their ages and a little personalization.

Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about.

On the 26th, we have our annual pumpkin stomp and chomp, where all the elephants and animals get pumpkins in different forms. It’s interesting to see how the animals react to different parties and the pumpkins that they get. Some will step on them and break them open. Some will just put the whole thing in their mouths.

We also have our annual trick-or-treating with the kids, so we hand out candy to the kids, and it’s a safe environment for them.

Why should others get involved with causes they care about?

It’s very rewarding.

We have many conservation programs, and one of them is a sturgeon release, which is coming up on Saturday. You pay to have the sturgeon microchipped, and then if it’s ever caught out in Lake Erie or the Miami River, that data will come back to you as an owner and let you know that your sturgeon is still alive. That’s a very rewarding conservation program.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

Do it! Whatever your passion is, whatever is important to you, volunteering is very rewarding.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

I cannot express how rewarding it has been for me. It has opened up a whole new world to me. I have developed some of the strongest friendships in my life. We travel and share our passions, which is a lot of fun. It’s perfect.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Lynn? Find local volunteer opportunities.