Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for June 2014

Today is for Denice Mikkelson!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Connie Lamm for her friend and fellow volunteer caregiver, Denice Mikkelson! Connie and Denice have been long time volunteers with Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and we can’t say enough about all they do for us and the chimpanzees. Denice has been feeling under the weather lately and Connie wants to let her know we are all thinking of her and hope she is taking good care of herself.

Denice,  if you need any pointers on what this looks like (and if you know Denice, she does 😉 ) perhaps you can get some ideas from Jody, the queen of lounging, relaxing and treating herself right!

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Connie, thanks so much for thinking of Denice and the chimpanzees! What a lovely thing that you are always thinking of others and what you can do to make their day better. Denice, all the primates here miss you and are sending good vibes your way. Feel better soon! We are so lucky to have you both among our amazing family of volunteers!

Play as Distraction

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Being the perpetually hungry guy that he is, Burrito always knows when meal time is approaching. For instance, he knows that when we’re finished cleaning the front rooms, lunch time is near. Occasionally, for whatever reason, his internal clock is off, and it’s not quite time to eat when he thinks it should be.

This morning we finished cleaning the front rooms a little earlier than usual, and there was still almost an hour to go before lunch, but Burrito was convinced that the clocks were wrong. His excitement turned into a raucous display, and some of the girls got upset with him. Foxie, ever the peacekeeper, calmed Burrito down by engaging him in a little pre-meal play.

Happy Birthday, George!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by George Halliwell! Today also happens to be George’s birthday! George shared that he wants to celebrate by including the chimpanzees in this special day and that knowing he is helping them brings him great joy.

George, what an incredibly kind, generous and compassionate thing to do, especially on your birthday! The chimpanzees have the best friends! It’s such an honor to be able to witness so many amazing people open their lives to share with the chimpanzees with the desire to improve the chimps’ lives.

Thank you and Happy Birthday, George!! May your day be filled with pant hoots, food grunts, and all good things!

Annie and Missy:

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An intense focus

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Jamie takes life pretty seriously. She likes to work on her projects, eat meals, take walks, and interact very intensely. Her focus can certainly be intimidating but it’s one of the traits I really admire, probably because it resonates. Today we set up a cabbage forage in the playroom after morning cleaning. In the series of photos that I snapped of Jamie enjoying the cabbage you can see how intently she was savoring each bite. What is even more unusual about this series is that Jamie was so absorbed with her snack that I was able to get in a number of shots before her focus turned to the camera!

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Today is for Peggy!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Sherry Munion in honor of her daughter-in-law, Peggy Faranda’s, birthday! Sherry learned of Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW through Peggy and wanted to gift her with this day. She also shared this lovely message:

“Peggy’s dedication to all animals and her photography of such is a true gift. She is a wonderful woman and I am thrilled to have her as a daughter-in-law.”

Sherry and Peggy, thank you so much for your support and for giving the chimpanzees a special day to share with you. What a compassionate and generous gift! Peggy, from all of us here at CSNW, we wish you the happiest of birthdays!

Negra has been the birthday party queen all weekend so we hope you take some cues from her on how to celebrate!

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Happy Birthday, Negra!

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The Queen of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest turns 41 today, and as you might have guessed, we threw a party – an English tea party, to be precise. Volunteers Patti and Steph even cut the crusts off the sandwiches. Negra enjoyed a forage on the hill this morning before the weather turned bad, and then she was treated to a greenhouse full of extra straw and blankets for nesting. The menu for today contained all of Negra’s favorites: bread, lettuce, nuts, avocado, and sweet potato, among many others. She even got night bags at every meal.

We do a lot of celebrating around here, but nothing means as much to us as Negra’s birthday, and no one deserves to be spoiled more than her. She is, after all, the Queen.

Happy Birthday, Neggie.