Our impact
Since 1998, Sonoma Savanna Youth Foundation has been inspiring wildlife stewards, removing barriers, and fostering healing through meaningful connections with the natural world.
Children who get close to wild animals early tend to keep caring about them. We give them that first look.
Whether financial or physical, every barrier ends the same way: a child who cannot get there. So we bring the wild to them instead.
For a child in a hospital bed, a live window onto the wild is somewhere else to be for a while.
Wild animals streamed live to a child's bedside. They watch, wonder, and ask questions in real time.
See broadcasts →
A hands-on, science-based day in the field, with the cost of the visit covered.
Explore visits →
Ready-to-teach lessons and resources that make wildlife come alive in any classroom.
Browse the library →Every program on this page runs on donated funds. Support a program →
A hospital, school, or care facility asks for a live visit.
A guide streams real wildlife straight from the zoo, aquarium, or reserve.
Children watch, ask questions, and connect in real time.
That's tens of thousands of kids who met the wild without leaving their hospital room, because people like you gave.
Some kids are too sick or too far away to ever visit a zoo or animal reserve, so we bring the "wild" to them, live.
Sonoma Savanna Youth Foundation exists to inspire, educate, and heal through real animals and real wonder. Today the foundation reaches children in schools and hospitals across the Bay Area and beyond.
Every one of those outcomes starts with a donor. Fund a moment of wonder →
What a live broadcast looks like from the other side of the screen.
Work in a hospital, school, or care facility? Request a broadcast →
Trusted by children’s hospitals and studios
Organizations, foundations, and businesses can sponsor broadcasts too. See ways to get involved →
“LIVE is exponentially helpful to a patient’s mental health, overall well-being, and in their overall recovery.”
Abbie KreiderSeacrest Studios, Dallas Children’s Hospital“Our kids are looking to connect, and LIVE does that and keeps it entertaining at the same time. The production is really outstanding.”
Elyse CannBenioff Children’s Hospital, Oakland“The guides don’t hesitate to spend as much time as needed on any question, and they’re great at adjusting to the content and age we’re presenting to.”
Josh CastanedaSeacrest StudiosWho we are
Sonoma Savanna Youth Foundation is entering a new chapter, and we want all of you to be part of our mission.
For nearly three decades, this Foundation has connected young people with the natural world through hands-on education. That work continues, and it can only continue because of you! What is changing is our name and the fact that we now operate independently, from our own offices, under our own leadership.
Our mission has not changed. We remain committed to inspiring the next generation through meaningful engagement with wildlife, science, and the environment, and to reaching the young people in our community who have the fewest opportunities to experience it. Our programs continue, and your support continues to fund them.
Thank you for standing with us. The children and families we serve are the reason this Foundation exists, and you are the reason it can.
With gratitude,
Yes. Sonoma Savanna Youth Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (Tax ID# 91-1837240), so your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Your gift funds live broadcasts into hospitals, in-person experiences for children who could not otherwise go, and the free Education Library.
Through our In-Person Experiences and free Education Library. Reach out and we’ll help you plan a visit or start with a lesson.
Yes. Hospitals, schools, and care facilities can request a live broadcast by emailing info@sonomasavannayouthfoundation.org, and we’ll help you set it up.
We’re based in Santa Rosa, California, and serve children in schools and hospitals across the San Francisco Bay Area and the country.
Give to fund the next live broadcast, or request one for your hospital, school or care facility.
