Hi, we are the Hargroves. We hate asking for help like this, but we have done everything we can. We are trying to raise money for a lit sign over our business.

Animals are our passion, and we have taken inspiration from people like Steve Irwin and Brian Barczyk and started an interactive reptile zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We have seen interactive zoos like ours take off around the country because it is something people want, but there is no such place in New Mexico. At least until we came along. We started with just having our own private collection in a one-bedroom apartment. We wanted to share our animals with other people, so we began hosting free events at the park. The response: breathtaking. The people in our community loved it. We started doing birthday parties and going to schools. We reached a point that we could no longer operate out of our home, so we rented a storefront to display our animals to the public and let people learn about and interact with them. Less than two months after opening our doors, we had a baby. My husband and I both work full-time jobs, and we operate our zoo on the weekends. Being as new businesses typically take five years to start turning a profit, we financed our first year in business out of our own pockets. And we didn’t fail. We withstood the first year of chaos and grinding without having to close like about half of new businesses do in their first year. We survived, and we have changed so many people’s hearts and minds about these animals. We have brought joy to children and adults who share our passion, future biologists, and zoologists. And we have loved every moment of it.

Our old location was hard to find, so we decided to move to a place with more visibility and foot traffic. As part of our lease in the new building, we need to get a lit business sign installed above our entrance. We have been searching for a way to accomplish this. We have come up with a few proposals for signs we could afford that were rejected by our property management. We finally brought a proposal that was approved, but can’t find a place. We have exhausted our search for vendors that fit our landlord’s requirements and the cheapest estimate we have is still $5000. We just don’t have that right now, but our deadline to have a sign installed is coming up. We are out of options.

We are still working seven days a week and investing all of our time, energy, and resources into our zoo, with two jobs, one car, and a baby. We love what we do, and we dream of being able to do it full-time. We plan to grow and expand our collection and enclosures and offer more experiences and education to the public. We want to become a place families can bring their families for wholesome fun and enlightening experiences, and so many of our visitors want that too. It all starts with this sign.

We hate to ask, but we’ve done everything else we could. We appreciate any help we can get and promise to pay it forward as we grow! Thank you!