A popular Victoria attraction in Beacon Hill Park is asking the community for help to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Beacon Hill Children’s Farm has started a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of taking care of the farm’s many animals.
When open for business, the farm does not charge an entry fee but rather relies on the donations of the visitors. The zoo uses the money to care for animals and make repairs and improvements throughout the farm. This off-season they used their saved coin to build a new roof and repaint many buildings.
“The farm closed less than a week after it opened to do our part in helping to lower the risk of spreading the virus. This is a situation that has never arisen in the past 35 years of operation,” said the children’s farm on their GoFundMe page.
The goats, alpacas, ducks, pig, miniature horse and other animals are now being cared for by staff behind closed doors, but the farm says you can still see some of the animals through the fence.
“With the arrival of the coronavirus and the closure of the farm, the farm is suddenly cut off from our only source of income that we desperately need to keep on providing for the animals.”
To help fill the gap amid the pandemic, the petting zoo is relying on online donations. In the first 14 hours of starting the fundraiser, they raised $4,388 of their $6,000 goal.
For more information or to donate, visit the fundraising page on GoFundMe.
The zoo has given no estimate on when they will reopen, but say they will follow the guidelines set out by public health officials.
Rebecca Lawrence
