Merissa Modory and Seymour Savings (Ray Guardiola) get close with one of the zoo’s giraffes.

It’s an event we’re glad to stick out our neck for: North Shore Bank sponsored World Giraffe Day at the Racine Zoo on June 25, an event to spread awareness about the challenges facing wild giraffes and their depleting population.

The bank is the main sponsor of the zoo’s Giraffe Encounter, which gives visitors a chance to have an up-close experience with the two Masai giraffes there, Bo and Mac, and to feed them. For World Giraffe Day, we were the event’s main sponsor and gave out 100 free encounter tickets. Bank employees also greeted guests, handed out NSB goodies, and entered visitors for a chance to win a zoo membership, Area Branch Manager Lisa Brooks reports.

Other employees who helped out were Regency Teller Erik Bankhead, Burlington Branch Manager Robin Callis, Kenosha Area Branch Manager Julie Goebel, Westgate Personal Banker Ray Guardiola, and Regency Branch Manager Merissa Modory.