Aquarium to Host Heart of Passion Visit

A group of very special teenagers is getting the red-carpet treatment for breakfast and tour at Audubon Aquarium and Audubon Insectarium on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.

In partnership with the non-profit Heart of Passion (HoP), Audubon is hosting group of young cancer patients from Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee who are taking part in the group’s annual retreat in New Orleans. The retreat is designed to give the teenagers time to relax, have fun, and make connections with others facing similar health challenges.

The group will arrive at Audubon Aquarium at 8:00 a.m. and will be greeted by the full red-carpet treatment and escorted into the Aquarium for their special morning.

The breakfast at Audubon Aquarium and Audubon Insectarium is a highlight of their week, according to organizers. They will enjoy a private, before-hours breakfast in front of the Aquarium’s Gulf exhibit while animal care team members talk with them about sea creatures, introduce the teens to a penguin, and assist as the teens help butterflies take the “first flight” into Audubon Insectarium’s Butterfly Garden.  

“Providing young people with unique connections with the animals in our care is what this red-carpet breakfast is all about,” said Rich Toth, Audubon Aquarium’s Managing Director and Senior Vice President. “Knowing we are helping these teenagers have typical social time with others their age is so important. We want them to relax, enjoy our animals and just be teenagers for a little while.”

Heart of Passion’s Red-Carpet Retreat takes a “for teens from teens” approach that serves the special guests while providing practical training for local high school leaders through the organization’s Leadership Development Program (LDP). This unique, intensive year-long program offers high school students an opportunity to experience life in the business world while learning about compassion at the same time. The local teens plan and execute Red Carpet Day. This year, local students from the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Metairie Park Country Day, Louise McGehee School, and Isidor Newman School are participating.

Heart of Passion’s dual mission strives to instill a love of community engagement in the next generation of community leaders while tearing down the walls that cancer builds socially and emotionally for teens. 

Since its founding in 2002, Heart of Passion has hosted Red Carpet Day Retreats for teens with cancer in Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, and New Orleans, serving hundreds of patients.

For more information on Heart of Passion and its programs visit heartofpassion.org or facebook.com/HeartofPassion