Colorado's Governor Polis and First Gentleman Present "Colorado For All" Charity Proceeds to The Wild Animal Sanctuary

KEENESBURG, Colo., March 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of guests, volunteers and employees turned out Tuesday afternoon, March 19^th, at The Wild Animal Sanctuary's enormous Welcome Center to greet Colorado's Governor, Jared Polis and First Gentleman, Marlon Reis.

The Governor, First Gentleman and Colorado For All co-chair, Rick Sapkin, presented a check in the amount of $45,000 to Sanctuary Executive Director, Pat Craig, to be used "for the animals". 

Colorado For All is the non-profit committee that hosted Governor Polis' inauguration events and Blue Sneaker Ball and proceeds from the those events were divided up among the Sanctuary and four other charitable organizations.

After brief introductory remarks by Mr. Craig, Ken Gfeller, the Mayor of Keenesburg, Colorado and Weld County Commissioner, Sean Conway and Governor Polis, the microphone was turned over to First Gentleman, Marlon Reis, who has made animal advocacy one of his highest priorities.

Mr. Reis, a supporter of the Sanctuary even before the recent election, stated that the Sanctuary is an organization that "wows" him and that Pat Craig, in taking action as a 19-year old almost 40 years ago to help save captive wildlife, "changed the world."

Also cited by Mr. Reis was the incredible educational value of the Sanctuary in teaching children the value of preserving wildlife as well as being a model for others in establishing sanctuaries. 

Mr. Reis concluded his remarks by speaking about the Sanctuary's new 9,000+ acre Refuge in southern Colorado, a venture that he finds "awe-inspiring" that was acquired out of a need arising out of the Sanctuary never compromising when it comes to the rescued animals' happiness.

Governor Polis and Mr. Reis love dogs and felt right at home being greeted and surrounded by the Sanctuary's own rescue dogs throughout the event—with one of them, "Little Bit", a rescued terrier-mix being held by the Governor almost continuously throughout the presentation. 

Both gentlemen look forward to visiting the new Refuge as their schedules allow later in the year.

About The Wild Animal Sanctuary:
Located near Keenesburg, Colorado, The Wild Animal Sanctuary is the largest nonprofit carnivore sanctuary in the world, with nearly 500 rescued Lions, Tigers, Bears, Wolves, Leopards and other carnivores living in large acreage natural habitats. Established in 1980, the Sanctuary operates two locations with more than 10,000 acres for abused, abandoned and confiscated carnivores and specializes in rehabilitating captive wildlife so they can be released into natural habitats where they can roam freely and live with others of their own kind.  More information is available at www.wildanimalsanctuary.org and www.wildanimalrefuge.org

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SOURCE The Wild Animal Sanctuary