Volunteers making a difference at Utah Hogle Zoo

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah’s Hogle zoo has been a staple in Utah for over 90 years. Volunteers support the zoo’s mission to create champions for wildlife. Mary Lou Compher has been volunteering with the zoo for over 30 years.

If you go to the Hogle Zoo on a Thursday, you will probably see Mary Lou. For 26 of her 30 years, she has worked with the Primate Team.

She explained the start of her day, “I just walk around and make sure that everything is swept up, and all of the guest areas are ready for the guests to arrive.

Mary Lou said, “I just love what I do, and I love my team, and I love the animals.”

Her jobs aren’t glamorous, but they are extremely important. She continued, “Every task I do is a task the keepers don’t have to do. Since I’m doing laundry, I’m doing dishes, I’m doing windows and I’m prepping enrichment it frees them up for animal care.”

Most days you can see Mary Lou cleaning the Primate Forest, prepping enrichment in the Ape Kitchen and feeding the Gorillas. She is one of a huge group of volunteers at Utah’s Hogle Zoo making a difference each and every day.

Kelly McCulley has been the Volunteer Coordinator for the Zoo for 8 years now. She said, “Last year we had 1,000 volunteers between our episodic and long-term volunteers who donated over 24,000 hours of service. That is the equivalent of $800,000. It makes a real impact.”

People volunteer at Utah’s Hogle Zoo in a variety of different capacities with different requirements. Each volunteer makes a difference.  

For Mary Lou her work here started 30 years ago when she moved to Utah.  She said, “The zoo seemed like a good place. I love animals and I love working with animals.”

And after nearly 5,000 volunteer hours, Mary Lou’s work and knowledge of the Zoo make a difference every day she is there.

Mary Lou said, “I’m helping the animals out in my own way.  Even though I’m not directly working with the animals. I’m doing the background stuff and helping everyone out.”

If you would like to volunteer with Utah’s Hogle Zoo, you can find information here.