{"id":1276,"date":"2026-06-24T18:49:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/?p=1276"},"modified":"2026-06-24T18:55:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:55:17","slug":"1276","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/24\/1276\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201dStrawberries and Wine\u201d Volunteer Appreciation Night at the Toronto Zoo!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DM Ainslie Speaking Notes &#8211; Toronto Zoo Board Volunteer Appreciation Party<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">June 23, 2026 \u2013 Toronto Zoo Special Events Centre, Discovery Zone<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">6:30-7:15 PM \u2013 Arrival and Drink<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>7:15 PM \u2013 Opening and Speeches<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">7:35-8:25 PM &#8211; Recognition Ceremony<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">8:25-9:00 PM &#8211; Strawberries and Dessert<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>DM Ainslie Speaking Notes &#8211; Toronto Zoo Board Volunteer Appreciation Party<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>June 23, 2026 \u2013 Toronto Zoo Special Events Centre, Discovery Zone<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>6:30-7:15 PM \u2013 Arrival and Drink<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>7:15 PM \u2013 Opening and Speeches<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>7:35-8:25 PM &#8211; Recognition Ceremony<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>8:25-9:00 PM &#8211; Strawberries and Dessert<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Good evening, everyone!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As Chair of the Toronto Zoo Board,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>it is my absolute privilege to welcome you all to our Volunteer Appreciation Party.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tonight is all about saying a massive thank you to each and every one of you<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>for your incredible dedication, passion, and hard work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Toronto Zoo simply could not run without our wonderful volunteers,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>who give their time so selflessly to support our wildlife and connect with our visitors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is truly inspiring to see the deep commitment in this room,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>including several individuals who have been volunteering with us for over 20 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Whether you have been here for two decades or just joined us recently,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>your impact is felt across every corner of these grounds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thank you for your unwavering service,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and for being the heartbeat of the Toronto Zoo.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Please enjoy the evening,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>celebrate each other,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and have a fantastic night!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3930-1024x553.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3930-1024x553.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3930-300x162.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3930-768x415.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3930.jpeg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DM Ainslie Speaking Notes &#8211; Toronto Zoo Board Volunteer Appreciation Party June 23, 2026 \u2013 Toronto Zoo Special Events Centre, Discovery Zone 6:30-7:15 PM \u2013 Arrival and Drink 7:15 PM \u2013 Opening and Speeches 7:35-8:25 PM &#8211; Recognition Ceremony 8:25-9:00 PM &#8211; Strawberries and Dessert<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1276"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1280,"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions\/1280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulainslie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}