Wild Wishes come true: Graham student becomes Kingdom Zoo Ambassador

From zebras to snakes and everything in between, one Graham student is impacting the lives of children overcoming the loss of a family or dealing with a serious illness through the Wild Wishes program and the Kingdom Zoo.

Emily Odom, a Graham student and granddaughter of Don and Donna Sweatt and Tim and Linda Odom, lost her father and now years later is able to help others overcome as the Wild Wishes Kids Ambassador for the Kingdom Zoo.

The Kingdom Zoo out of Orange, Texas, is a micro-zoo that is not designed to be open to public access, but its purpose is to bring love to children through wildlife encounters. The zoo was founded by Chester Moore and his wife Lisa Moore. Chester is a wildlife journalist, serving as editor-in-chief of Texas Fish and Game magazine. He and his wife’s facility houses 67 species of wild animals.

Their outreach program is called Wild Wishes, which allows children who have lost a parent, sibling or have a critical illness to experience wildlife encounters either on the Moore’s property or at other wildlife facilities around the state.

“For me personally, I am just really glad that I am in it because for me it’s just something that helps me grieve in the way of seeing all these kids who I get to help,” Emily said. “I know I am not the only one in it, but to me it’s just kind of like grieving and a way of closure.”

For the rest of the story, see the July 11 edition of The Graham Leader.