Students all over Delmarva are getting ready to Just Zoo It! for the Delmarva Zoological Society by collecting coins in specially made cans this Halloween.

Participating schools will be handing out Just Zoo It! cans this week to students who are then encouraged to take the cans with them while they go Trick or Treating. All money collected will help the nonprofit to support the Salisbury Zoo.

Now in its sixth year, the Just Zoo It! campaign has raised more than $150,000 in nickels, dimes and quarters to help Renew the Zoo.

The public school class that raises the most money in each county is rewarded with a special VIP trip to the Zoo in the spring to meet Zookeepers, learn about the collection of animals, enjoy a pizza party, cupcakes, and take home a t-shirt and a Zoo stuffed animal. There’s also a private school class winner, and one randomly selected winner each year.

One class, who raises the most of all, will get to go inside the Andean Bear Exhibit and learn how Zookeepers take care of Chaska, the Zoo’s female bear. Students will learn what she is fed, how Zookeepers make sure she is healthy, and they conduct enrichment activities to keep the bear active and engaged.

Parents, friends and family can also donate online to help their student’s classroom, through the DZS website at www. RenewTheZoo.com.  

DZS has partnered with area schools in four counties to distribute the Just Zoo It! cans which were donated by Pepsi Bottling Ventures in Salisbury. The staff at Lower Shore Enterprises helped wrap the cans with the Just Zoo It labels and get them organized into boxes for each class, and warehouse space was donated by Vernon Powell Shoes. All of the coins will be counted by employees at First Shore Federal.

The Delmarva Zoological Society is the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that was created to raise funds for the Salisbury Zoo. To learn more about Just Zoo It or DZS, go to RenewTheZoo.com or call 410-742-3977.