Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sarah

Share the love (for free!)

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It sure is a busy time of year for a nonprofit. With the holidays and the end of the year, I’m really grateful to say that we process a ton of donations in December. And we need them! If you haven’t given yet this year, and you have a little bit to spare, please consider making a donation today (sorry, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t include a little pitch!).

Anyway, the Cle Elum Seven are fortunate to have so many devoted supporters. That means you! Although we rely on financial donations to keep us in bananas and night bags, there are plenty of things you can do to keep us going without spending a dime:

  • Your enthusiasm is contagious! Reading this blog and sharing it with your friends and family (especially on Facebook) makes a big difference. The more people who know about the Cle Elum Seven, the better!
  • Likewise, share our newsletter with your friends and family.  And bug them (politely!) to sign themselves up by telling them what you love about the chimps and how much they mean to you. Many nonprofits spend tons of money building their lists, so helping us build our supporter base for free is a truly valuable “donation.”
  • Add a tagline to your email signature to share why you love the chimps. The more personal connection the better, and be sure to include a link to our website!
  • Give us a review on Guidestar, where many donors do their homework before donating. Let the world know what you think we do well and why you’re in love with the Cle Elum Seven.
  • Get involved with Eyes on Apes.
  • Send us your old printer cartridges, cell phones, and small electronics. We can recycle them through a responsible company that sends a donation back to us. Contact Jackie if you have questions about what types of things they take ([email protected]).
  • Volunteer your time or skills. Did you know we have a wonderful bunch of folks in the chimp house washing produce, doing laundry, helping us clean enclosures, and even (after a ton of training) serving meals to the chimps? We also need event volunteers. Contact Elizabeth to find out more ([email protected]).
  • Do you work for a company that might be able to donate something fabulous for our auction? Or do you have a friend who owns a store that might pitch something in? Are you an artist? Contact Diana for more information about our event and the types of things we need ([email protected]).
  • Remember us in your will, trust, or life insurance policy. It’s a lot easier than you might think, and can make a huge difference. Usually all you need is our name, address and tax ID number (68-0552915). Please let me know ([email protected]) if you honor us with such a gift so that I can thank you and add you to our legacy circle.

Have other ideas? Please share them in the comments!

And, just for kicks, here’s an oldie but goodie. Almost 4 years ago to the day, the chimps experienced their first snowstorm (before Young’s Hill and the greenhouse). Check it out.

Busy hill

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Annie may have had Young’s Hill all to herself yesterday, but this morning JB managed to snap 5 of the 7 out there in one frame. Counterclockwise from the top, here’s Jody, Foxie, Missy (on the move, of course), Burrito, and Jamie. Negra was snuggled up in the greenhouse and Annie must have been just out of sight.

 

Happy Birthday Adrienne!

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Jakob and Joey sponsored today in honor of their mom Adrienne’s birthday. Adrienne and Jakob (along with Jessy, Janna and Rachel) volunteered at the sanctuary a few months back and helped us install our GoPro cameras. I know Adrienne fell in love with the chimps while she was here, and we all fell in love with her! Her boys are so lucky to have her, and we all wish you a happy day today Adrienne. Here’s the message from the boys:

“Happy birthday mom! We know how much you love the chimps and we love that about you. Thank you so much for always being there for us. Have a great birthday!”

The chimps will have some extra bananas and cabbage in your honor today, Adrienne!

If you’re on twitter, you should wish Adrienne happy birthday from her fellow fans of the Cle Elum Seven. And check out her amazing store in Berkeley, CA. Adrienne helped coordinate the printing of our Negra hoodies, designed some new long sleeve shirts we’ll have available soon, and is working with a printer on a new design for a short sleeve tee too.

Tune in tonight

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Eric Jensen and Eric Johnson won an Emmy for their story about the chimps’ release onto Young’s Hill last year, and we were happy to have them back today to film a story about the Taylor Bridge Fire and our recovery. Tune in tonight at 5pm to KOMO 4 if you’re local to the Seattle area, or check KomoNews.com later this evening for the full story. We’ll post the link when we have it.

And while you’re waiting, wouldn’t you just love to know what Foxie was thinking when I snapped this picture earlier today? We often get asked to interpret what the chimps might be thinking, and that’s generally an impossible task. But whenever I see Foxie looking at her troll dolls, especially a new one, I’m struck by how intense the connection seems.

Take Action (Tuesday?)

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Perhaps our catchy title was a bit optimistic. But here’s your quick take action tip of the week. On September 5th, a week from today, the working group addressing the issue of government funded research on chimpanzees will meet to prepare its recommendations (due out in the early part of 2013). Visit this link to send a quick note to the members of the working group encouraging them to recommend permanent retirement for all government owned and supported chimpanzees. There are many like Negra, Jamie, Foxie and the rest of our bunch sitting in labs waiting for you to speak up for them.

Catch up news

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To steal a phrase from our friend Allison, it’s getting back to boring around here. A good kind of boring. So, while there’s a lull, here’s some nice catch-up news I’ve been collecting for a few weeks. First, I’m pleased to share that we have been formally accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS). People are sometimes surprised to learn that there are very few formal regulations on sanctuaries. It varies state by state, but here in Washington there is almost nothing in the state code specific to a facility like ours. CSNW is regulated on the federal level by the Animal Welfare Act (under the USDA), but not all sanctuaries fall under these regulations either (depending both on state requirements and on activities the facility undertakes). The lack of uniform governmental regulation makes organizations like GFAS even more important, because they set standards we all agree to follow. Not only is this important in ensuring that chimpanzee sanctuaries are providing top-notch care, but it also provides an additional layer of transparency to donors and supporters looking to make sure that their support goes to true sanctuaries.

We also got news that CSNW is part of a group selected by the Secretary of Agriculture to receive the 64th annual Secretary’s Honors award (the highest honor bestowed by the Secretary) for our work to help resolve the situation at Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO) last year. WAO went bankrupt and was forced to close after many years in operation. A professional working group formed and quickly moved to place hundreds of animals, including 17 chimpanzees. Thankfully, fellow North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) members Save the Chimps and Chimp Haven were able to take these chimpanzees in.

CSNW is the smallest of the NAPSA sanctuaries, so we aren’t generally in the position to be able to directly rescue chimpanzees in need. But we work hard with our colleagues in the professional sanctuary community to support and facilitate rescues whenever we can. So in one final bit of news, I’m thrilled to say that my friend CJ chimpanzee, who I met years ago in Las Vegas, has landed herself a permanent home at Chimps Inc in Bend, Oregon. Read the full story here.  I had hoped to be there when she arrived, because our annual NAPSA meeting was occurring at the same time. But the fire got in the way of my plans. I will go see her just as soon as I can, and look forward to seeing my other chimpanzee friends there as well, like Emma and Jackson, who I first met in Texas in 2006.

The story of the fire part 3 – from Sarah

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See the Story of the Fire Part 1 here

After JB’s initial call letting me know there was fire in the area, I was thinking that it would be like the fire we had a few years ago, which was started by a car accident near the same bridge. It went up the hill about half a mile away, but they quickly had it under control. It was scary but not SCARY. I was talking on the phone to Dr. Mel, the chimps’ vet, about something unrelated when JB called me back with an update. I put the land line phone down to pick up my cell (and JB’s call) and he calmly told me that Diana was packing up their animal friends from the house and the staff on site (Jackie and Elizabeth) were going to “stick with me a few more minutes and then get out of here.” I remember listening carefully and then saying “Is there anything I can do from here?” Of course there wasn’t. I felt so helpless. But in retrospect I am glad I was working from home that afternoon because I was the one with solid internet service and could keep folks updated.

I sent an email to our Board letting them know what was happening, and then I waited for updates from Elizabeth, JB, and Diana via texts and calls. Here’s one from Diana: “They are asking us to evacuate soon. We are spraying the building. They can’t make us leave.” And another: “They have big hoses. Building will be okay.” Then Diana, Elizabeth and Jackie left and parked down the road to watch the scene. They took radios and stayed in contact with JB in the chimp house. Here’s one text from Diana as she sat in her car and watched: “There’s a chance the house didn’t burn down yet. Three helicopters dropping water around the property.”

I was relaying updates to our Board, preparing to update our supporters on Facebook, and somehow not freaking out. I felt eerily calm, but helpless at the same time. I think I wasn’t allowing myself to consider many of the “what ifs.” I didn’t want to affect signals or more emergent communications, so I just waited for updates from our amazing team. Elizabeth reported: “Teary. But ok.” Diana called me at one point and I could hear JB talking on the radio in Diana’s car. Then Diana came back on and I could hear the shakiness in her voice as she said “It’s pretty bad, Sarah.” There were no appropriate words in that moment. What do you say?

I’ve known JB since 1997 – fifteen years now. We were fellow grad students at Central Washington University, where we spent our Thursday evenings racing back from our seminar classes to my apartment where JB, our friend Charles and I would make huge falafel dinners with vegan cake for dessert. We would excitedly watch Beverly Hills 90210 and laugh about how we were avoiding working on our thesis write-ups.  After hearing Diana’s voice tell me matter-of-factly that it was really bad, the reality of the situation and what one of my best human friends and my beloved chimp friends faced hit me like a wall of fire.

The Story of the Fire, Part 4