A young friend of Acadiana's zoo has decided she'd rather help the giraffes than have a lot of birthday presents.
Five-year-old Nora Sanchez is celebrating her birthday next week, and instead of asking for presents, she's asking friends and family to contribute to a new habitat for the giraffes at Zoosiana. So far, they've donated more than $1,000 in her name.
"Instead of everyone doing birthday presents, I want everyone to do money for the giraffes," Nora said.
The owners of Zoosiana say they're grateful and surprised by Nora's generosity.
"It was a big surprise to us that she would forfeit her birthday presents to raise money for the giraffes," said George Oldenburg, owner of Zoosiana. "And she's already raised over a $1,000 and we couldn't be happier. Very, very good thing about a young person that would do something like that."
The giraffes, Gabriel and Evangeline, had a baby last fall named Millie. The zoo is raising funds to build a new habitat for them. To find out more, click here.
Nora is still raising funds ahead of her birthday. You can visit the Zoosiana website to make a donation.
