Sending a zoo of love

Third graders at Bowling Green Elementary School are sending their love to sick children this Valentine’s Day.

Courtesy East Meadow School District

The students happily made cards for children at Stony Brook University Hospital recently; they will be sent to the patients for Valentine’s Day.

Courtesy East Meadow School District

The children also wrote poems to accompany their animal valentines.

Courtesy East Meadow School District

The valentines feature pictures of various animals.

Courtesy East Meadow School District

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This Valentine’s Day, Bowling Green Elementary School third graders are sending what they called a zoo of love to children staying at Stony Brook University Hospital.

East Meadow School District officials said that the children were inspired to start a card-making service project after learning about one specific Stony Brook patient: Dunia Sibomana, an African boy who was mauled by chimpanzees near Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year.

According to national news reports, a group of chimpanzees jumped from the trees near Sibomana’s village and attacked him and two other boys, severely damaging his face. He was brought to the United States for treatment in November with the help of a nonprofit foundation called Smile Rescue for Kids.

Stony Brook University Hospital doctors reconstructed his damaged face through a rare and complicated surgery earlier this month. They hope that, one day, he will be able to able open and close his mouth, eat and even talk.

When the East Meadow students heard Sibomana’s story, they wanted to send warm regards to young patients like him who are suffer from a variety of ailments. They decided to create themed Valentine’s Day cards for the sick children.

The zoo of sorts consists of pictures of bunnies, tigers, bears, penguins and pigs. They also included poems with their cards, explaining that they hoped the hospitalized kids would make quick and safe recoveries.