Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon Copes with an Overload of Free Passes

“It’s been a huge problem for us,” said Betsey Brewer, whose family owns the zoo, about what she described as the enormous number of Feinstein Card free passes distributed without their consent by Rhode Island philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein.She said the family had understood the cards would be provided as an incentive to a small number of children. Instead, “we got 5,000 cards last year and lost $200,000,” she said.Feinstein Cards are given to “Junior Scholars” in 119 “Feinstein Leadership Schools” primarily in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. Both public and parochial schools participate in the program.“We encourage them to do good deeds,” Mr. Feinstein said in an interview. Students are given a journal and passes for free admission for themselves and an adult to local attractions.

When Southwick’s Zoo got involved with the Feinstein Junior Scholar program last year, zoo officials were told the free passes would be distributed to a small number of students who met strict criteria. Ms. Brewer said it turned out the cards were given to every student in the schools.

To make matters worse, she said, “The people that got them photocopied them.”

The value of each adult-child admission to the zoo is $35.

Ms. Brewer said the zoo honored the passes last year out of commitment to their guests’ satisfaction, but they did not renew their participation in the program for the 2012 season, which opened in April.

Still, Feinstein Cards had been distributed for the current school year and included Southwick’s Zoo as an attraction, despite its withdrawal from the program.

“The mistake was mine,” Mr. Feinstein said about the zoo’s contract date. “We make our cards for the school year.”

He said he talked to zoo officials and apologized when he saw that the contract was for 2011.

“I’d like to work out something with the zoo,” he said, proposing that the zoo might charge Feinstein Cardholders a discounted rate and be reimbursed by the Feinstein Foundation.“I’ve refunded everyone who told me they had to pay.”Mr. Feinstein said 60,000 new Feinstein Cards have been printed and 50,000 have already been distributed. He said he has also announced on his Sunday morning television program that the zoo is no longer accepting the cards.Ms. Brewer said about Mr. Feinstein’s proposal: “He’d reimburse us $1 for $35 worth of free entertainment.

“Our lawyer said it’s a legal issue.”

She said that while nonprofit organizations such as museums or publicly funded zoos can get by with a big loss in admission fees, Southwick’s Zoo, which is private, relies solely on admissions proceeds to provide all of the animal care and maintenance of the zoo.

Ms. Brewer said in a news release, “While we wholeheartedly empathize with the children, it is just not currently feasible for us to honor the cards.”