Adopting Iggy

Editor’s Note: The following blog was written by Florida resident Kevin Powell regarding the experience of adopting an alpaca.

Hello! My name is Kevin Powell, and my fiancé is Michelle Vice! We live in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Iggy’s adoption story started in November of last year when I started looking for a place to adopt an alpaca as a surprise for Christmas.

Michelle had mentioned a few times about how cute alpacas were or sent me stories on social media about people owning alpacas so I thought it would be something unique and exciting to do for her. I honestly just googled “alpaca adoption,” scrolled down once, and there your website was!

I chose the Sisters of Providence because I loved the story and history behind Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and how all of this came to be … especially the alpacas! The adoption process was super easy, and the adoption certificate made it just in time for Christmas!

Planning a visit

When Michelle saw the certificate, we started to joke about going to visit, and then we looked at each other and said we were 100 percent going to go visit Iggy.

The White Violet Center for Eco-Justice is an extremely accommodating organization and easy to communicate and make plans with. The whole process of scheduling a tour time and asking for directions (out-of-towners) was pleasant and easy.

Tara (Elmore) was our main point of contact for scheduling and was also our tour guide on Sept. 11, 2021. Tara took us around to see all the flowers and crops, chickens, horses, and finally the alpacas and our adopted son Iggy!!

The whole idea of adopting an alpaca for a gift and then culminating into meeting him in person was an amazing experience.

A wonderful experience

All the alpacas, including Iggy, were all in a great mood, everyone was friendly, and there was also the cutest brand-new baby running and jumping around! Michelle and I ended up being the only ones on the tour, so our experience and time spent with Iggy was more personal and made for a lot of great photos.

We would like to thank the White Violet Center for everything that you do and extend a special heartfelt thank you to Tara and our son Iggy for helping create a lifetime worth of wonderful memories (and our next Christmas card)! Also, our plan is to try and make this an annual trip to come see Iggy so he doesn’t forget that his Florida parents Love him very much!

Adopt your alpaca

Adopting an alpaca is easy. It makes a great gift for a friend or loved one. It’s the perfect choice for those people in our lives who seem to have everything.

Get started