Visiting places like the aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach hasn't been so easy amid the COVID-19 pandemic - first a closure, then regulated to outdoor exhibits only with reservations required. With so much uncertainty, one family decided they wanted to help fill the void.
[Ads /]
"It started with a stingray... made out of construction paper... and then it went boom," said London Ruff, "Aquarium on Parkside'.
The Ruff family had the wild idea to create this at their Burbank home on Parkside Avenue: an aquarium- which has now expanded to be a community zoo... all with a little imagination, of course.
"Everything is made of recycled materials. This was a juice bottle; this was a laundry pod container," said Wendy Ruff.
At the Aquarium on Parkside, all the sea life, zoo animals and exhibits have a name, like Diamond the lion, the chameleon canopy... and the toucan brothers.
"The neighbor that lives here has just done wonderful things for the neighborhood, and people stop by and it certainly helps with COVID and having the kids do something fun and very creative," said Brooke Ward.
[Ads /]
There is now more than 700 decorated cardboard cut outs on display, some decorated by the community. In addition, the Ruff's are collecting art supplies for third grade students in south-central Los Angeles.
Their hope is that the aquarium and zoo creatures can spread some love during the pandemic. And they're not done yet.
"So we have no end date, it's kinda just until we run out of amazon boxes," laughed London.
Which nowadays, shouldn't be in short supply.