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To The Leader

The Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center has reached an important milestone in their work with children.

Their Wild Wishes program grants wildlife encounters to children with a critical illness or loss of a parent or sibling.

According to Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center co-founder Chester Moore, the ministry granted its 145th overall wish and their 100th wish in the City of Pinehurst recently.

“The City of Pinehurst really rolled out the red carpet when we arrived there six years ago and we appreciate them and the City Council very much. And we are excited to announce we have officially granted the 100th wish encounter with our animals that has taken place in Pinehurst. We’ve had kids from all over Texas and Louisiana come here to receive life-changing encounters,” Moore said.

To celebrate this milestone, Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center will be doing something special for the public at the upcoming Pinehurst Holiday Market Dec. 11 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. at 2300 41st St in Pinehurst.

“We were asked to take part in the Pinehurst Holiday Market that will have all kinds of cool vendors from around the region with food trucks, crafts, holiday shopping vendors and activities for the family,” Moore said.

“We’re going to have some of our animals on display and have opportunities for kids (and kids at heart) to take photos with a unicorn. Yes, a unicorn.”

Whispering Ponies Ranch in Missouri donated two trained mini horses to the ministry last April and their beautiful five-year-old white horse “Nutmeg” became a unicorn for a very special Wild Wishes encounter.

“We get the kids who come through our program gifts and as we were buying them we felt led to somehow turn Nutmeg into a unicorn for this very special little girl named Isla. It turns out she had just gotten a book about unicorns and she was blown away to meet our “unicorn” in person,” said Lisa Moore.

Isla is battling the rare CLN3 Batten Disease and in honor of her and the fact she was the 100th wish in Pinehurst, Nutmeg will again become a unicorn for the event.

“Our mini horse Justin will also become a reindeer for photos and we’ll have some other cool things for people to see. People can take photos with their cameras with the horses that day for a donation to our ongoing ministry work,” Lisa said.

Chester Moore said the ministry’s mission is to bring the redeeming love of Christ to hurting children through wildlife encounters and he can think of no better season to do something special for kids than Christmas.

“It’s a special time of year and we look forward to a special event. We’re honored to be a little part of this event that Pinehurst is putting on for the public. And we’re humbled that we have the continuing opportunity to help the hurting children of our area and beyond.”

To contact the Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center, message them on their official Facebook page or visit www.kingdomzoo.com.