EATING LOCAL

FROM PAGE 14 important amino acids.

Some plants are equally important to animals’ mental health. e Denver Zoo earned its accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums by taking animal well-being seriously — and that requires plenty of the branches, twigs and leaves known as browse. Cuttings from a range of trees and shrubs, including willow, mulberry, and butter y bush, are important not just for nutrition but also to encourage natural activities like foraging. For example, Crowell said, Tundra, the female grizzly bear, enjoys stripping and eating the leaves o hackberry branches while the zoo’s Mongolian horses prefer to chew bark o cottonwood logs. Elephants and primates like to exercise their teeth on bamboo stalks.

Several passive solar greenhouses known as hoop houses help extend the growing season for browse. And whenever it’s time to prune trees and bushes in City Park, Crowell and his team are there, collecting boughs, twigs and leaves. Crowell also roams the zoo’s 80 acres, searching for under-utilized patches of dirt where he and his sta can grow additional browse in the summer months. Last year, they supplied more than 1,300 pounds of leafy trimmings to zoo denizens.

When the zoo’s urban farmers aren’t running loads of produce over to hungry zebras and gira es, they are searching for more ways to maximize every square foot of growing space. Even the rafters of the Tropical Discovery building are being put to use, with a hydroponic growing table that nourishes crops of collard greens. According to Crowell, many animals love nutrient-dense greens like collard and dandelion. Perhaps we humans should take a few dining cues from the zoo.

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

2023 has already been a big year for Make-A-Wish.

Wish Week fundraisers have been in full swing at local schools this winter, and basketball legend Michael Jordan donated $10 million — the largest individual donation ever — to the national organization last month.

And spring 2023 could be even bigger.

Make-A-Wish Colorado celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and is hosting an anniversary celebration and fundraiser in April in Denver.

Since it started, Make-A-Wish Colorado has granted more than 6,000 wishes for children with critical illnesses as a way of giving them hope and something to look forward to during their treatment.

Golden’s Ben Bontrager, 10, went to Hawaii for his wish last spring. He was diagnosed in early 2020 with Burkitt’s lymphoma and was sick for almost a year, with his mom Sarah saying, “We almost lost him a couple times.”

Ben, who’s now in remission, said going to Hawaii was “the rst thing idea that popped in my head,” because he wanted to get out and do something fun.

“I was sick of being home,” he continued.

Now, Ben and his family are becoming Make-A-Wish ambassadors so that they can help other families through the same process.

Dad Je Bontrager said Ben’s wish was a “bright spot” to think about during those long days at the hospital, adding, “ e thought that (Make-A-Wish) has done it over and over for people, it’s really pretty amazing.”

For Jennifer

Joan Mazak has been the proverbial fairy godmother for thousands of Colorado children after she founded

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