Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

fundraiser

HOOT! Success and Negra’s Aging Backwards

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Last week at this time the chimpanzees were partied out, Katelyn was watching over the sanctuary, and the rest of the staff and a ton of volunteers and supporters were having the annual fundraising party in Seattle. HOOT! 2018 brought in more funds than any previous event. The night-of fundraising was over-the-top and many people who were unable to attend sent in donations from across the country. It was the eighth such event that we’ve had, starting in 2009 and skipping 2012. Each year the love seems to grow stronger!

Andy of Inland Networks TV created the highlights video below. One of the biggest moments was during the Give a HOOT! part of the evening where supporters raise their paddles to make donations. Overall, the event raised over $200,000, and a full half of that was just from Give a HOOT! It was nothing short of amazing! Big thanks to EVERYONE who donated with a special nod to Karen Emmerman Mazner, James & Jennifer Douglas and Ross & Karen Barde. Also thanks to challenge pledges from Kathy Cochran and Leah Roberts who were not attending but helped inspire others to donate.

 

Part of my talk at the event was about not knowing how long the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees would be with us when they arrived a the sanctuary on June 13, 2008. Negra was 35 years old at the time, which is considered elderly. But she’s still going strong and demonstrates the “aging in reverse” phenomenon that seems to have happened for all seven of the chimpanzees.

Here is the photo of Negra that we put on the home page of the website on the first day that the chimpanzees arrived:

Negra on day one

 

Today, Negra climbed to the top of the new (still unnamed!) structure on the hill – the top! I didn’t get a good photo, but I took some others of her exploring.

 

 

We celebrate Negra’s birthday on the anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival because she is the epitome of what the sanctuary is all about and it was certainly a new beginning for her. Thank you for being a part of it, whether you have been following for ten years or ten minutes.

 

HOOT! Sponsors Jennifer & David Roers

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Today is the third in a series of blog post celebrating sponsors of the HOOT! 2017 Spring Fling gala.

Past posts celebrated Tracy Headley and Pam Lehnert & Marc Warner.

Today is all about Jen and Dave Roers!

 

You may recognize the names Jennifer and David Roers because they have made challenge donations to the gala for the past few years, which have helped inspire others to give. Their Chimpanzee Champion+ sponsorship donation this year is also a challenge to encourage others to donate towards the event. So please do learn more about individual and corporate sponsorship levels!

I sent a few questions to Jen and Dave about how they became involved in Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and why they are supporters.

Here is Jen’s answer:

Dave and I first became aware of Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW when Dave saw a flyer at work.  Once we learned about the chimpanzees, we were hooked!  To see the Cle Elum Seven change and progress from their arrival to today is amazing.  The chimps have so much resilience and can teach humans a little something about compassion and forgiveness.  We’re also inspired by the passionate and enduring efforts of the humanimals at the sanctuary. CSNW draws the best of humanity whether it be staff, volunteers, or supporters.  It’s an honor to be a small part of it.

I work for and Dave volunteers at Pasado’s Safe Haven, where we work to end animal cruelty.  Pasado’s has a unique relationship with CSNW as a couple of the chimps’ caregivers work at Pasado’s!  These folks are truly special.  Dave and I recently went on the Ester the Wonder Pig Cruise and volunteered at a donkey sanctuary in Aruba (that’s where they were in the photo abovve).  It was one of the highlights of the entire trip.  It’s pretty obvious that caring for and protecting animals has become the focus of our lives.  In addition, we are the proud humans of 3 beautiful cats.

Here are some fun photos of them at Pasado’s:

Big thanks to Jennifer and David for all you have done to make change and progress possible for chimpanzees and other animals. You make my world a better place, and I’m looking forward to celebrating with you on May 13th at HOOT!

Last summer, when Negra ventured further out onto Young’s Hill than she’s gone before, that was due to the support of you both, and all of the Negra fans out there.

Guest Photographers

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Today is GORGEOUS at the sanctuary! I went up to take a few photos from on top of the visitor observation deck while the chimpanzees were traveling to the top of the hill, and I remembered that I had not yet shared photos taken by last year’s Photograph the Chimps winners from the HOOT! gala!

Before I share some of those photos, I have two questions for all potential HOOT!-goers this year:

1st – do you have your tickets yet?!

2nd – would you like a chance to bid on a photograph the chimps experience again this year? We’ve had it for two years in a row, and I’d hate for things to get old, so let me know! Maybe there’s another kind of experience at the sanctuary that you would like to bid on instead?

Professional photographers / photojournalists Karen Ducey of Animal News Northwest and Dean Rutz of the Seattle Times generously donate their expertise and equipment for these experiences.

The first winners last year were Jim Keller and CeeCee McCray:

CeeCee and Jim

It was difficult to choose among the many great photos that they took, but here are a few. The three below were taken by CeeCee.

Annie:

Annie close-up by CeeCee

 

Foxie:

Foxie by CeeCee

 

Missy (this is probably my favorite, because it’s just so Missy):

Missy by CeeCee

 

And the three below were taken by Jim.

 

Annie:

Annie by Jim Keller

 

Jamie:

Jamie by Jim Keller

 

Jody (just checking to see if there was any food up there – you never know!):

Jody by Jim Keller

 

Big, big thanks to Karen & Dean, Jim & CeeCee for giving generously and being all around great people! Kathy & Alice Rose were the two other winners of this experience, and I will share some of their photos soon too.

 

Messages from Annie, Burrito, and Foxie

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Thank you to everyone who has been Sharing the Chimp Love this week! I am so happy to be ordering donor-selected custom photos and sending out other Share the Love gifts to those who have donated at the different levels.

I am especially in love with these bookmarks and card that supporter and graphic designer Kathleen Corby designed just for this year’s Valentine’s Day.

bookmarks_real     Layout 1

 

Did you receive the e-newsletter yesterday? Have you shared the What happens when… video yet?

If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you’ve probably seen these messages from Annie, Burrito, and (from this morning) Foxie:

Share the Love for Annie

Share the Love for Burrito

Share the love for Foxie

How can you resist those three?!

We are over $7,000 towards our goal of raising $12,000 by the end of the day on Valentine’s Day.

If you haven’t already, please share the love by donating and sharing the above video and Share the Chimp Love images – help us reach the goal for this campaign and get us one step closer to the future of expanding the family!

 

 

Thank you for getting us to our goal!

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Yesterday was a bit of a roller coaster. At one point in the afternoon, we thought we had exceeded our goal in the Biddin’ for the Seven online auction, but then we received notice that someone had mistakenly made a large guaranteed bid on an item. We corrected the mistake and watched several thousand dollars disappear from the fundraising thermometer.

We were down to the last several minutes of the auction and still had some money to raise to reach the goal. But you pulled out all the stops, and we ended up going over our goal with a total of $12,757 in bids and Sustain the Sanctuary donation pledges!

thermometer

Thank you so very much to those who participated in the auction! I’ll be sending off auction items to winning bidders in the next several days, and will be excited to hear how you like your new stuff! If you have any questions about paying your invoice, don’t hesitate to contact me: diana@chimpsnw.org.

It’s kind of funny that I was so wrapped up in watching that fundraising thermometer – $12,000 was somewhat of an arbitrary number. It sure did feel great to reach and then exceed that goal, though! It’s not, of course, all we need to end the year strong, so we’ll be doing some end-of-year fundraising and we hope you’ll sign up for our Chimpanzee Pal program or make a general donation.

It truly does take a virtual village to run a chimpanzee sanctuary, and Burrito, Negra, Jody, Jamie, Missy, Foxie, and Annie rely on their virtual family out there in the world to keep them comfortable, well-fed, healthy, and happy. The photos and videos on this blog are a testament to what donations to sanctuaries can provide, and we can’t thank you enough for taking part in giving the chimpanzees the second chance they so deserve.

Right now there is another way that you can help Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest as well as two other animal sanctuaries. Herbivore Clothing Company is spearheading a 10% for sanctuaries week, with lots of businesses participating. Take a look at the list of companies that are participating, and start shopping or make a donation here. Big thanks to Tofurky / Turtle Island Foods and Chicago Vegan Foods for kick-starting the donations!

10percent

 

And if you’re still in the bidding mood, there’s still time to bid on Jamie’s painting (or any of the great paintings) in the HSUS Chimpanzee Art  Auction, with proceeds going to the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance.

small Jamie painting with seeds IMG_2467

Veggie Grill Fundraiser Tomorrow!

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Help the sanctuary tomorrow by going to Seattle’s South Lake Union Veggie Grill anytime between 11am and 5pm, mention the sanctuary and 50% of what you spend on food and beverages will go to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest! If you go between 11am and 1pm, you can meet Jennifer, CSNW’s Executive Director.

Help us spread the word to all of your friends in the Seattle area. Share our event page and invite your friends via Facebook.

Or consider making a lunch donation if you’re unable to attend. The chimps appreciate your support!

Veggie Grill Fundraiser tomorrow

burrito eating a sandwich

 

 

Rock Stars and Getaways

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I sat down to write a blog post highlighting Out of the Box 2013 auction items, and quickly became overwhelmed! There are SO many amazing items! I decided to focus on two things – rock stars and getaways.

What auction, I ask you, can you bid on a guitar signed by a chimpanzee??

out of the box round logo

A couple of weeks ago, we sent out an e-newsletter and posted about the Green Day Tickets in our online auction. Those tickets went to the loveliest of families for $5,640. They had an awesome time at the concert in Berkeley on Tuesday – more on that later.

In addition to the tickets, Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong also donated a guitar signed by Green Day members.

green day guitar

 

But that’s not the only signed guitar in the auction – Jamie “signed” a mini guitar, and we had it framed in a shadow box along with a photo of the rock star herself. This is an item that will be available at our Seattle gala, so you’d better get your tickets now in order to bid on this one-of-a-kind conversation-starting art piece.

Here’s a photo of the guitar before it was framed:

Jamie guitar before framing

And now, for a couple of getaways –

How about a week on Grand Cayman Island? Jackie and Kevin Downey, friends of Don and Karen Young (as in Young’s Hill), generously donated a week’s stay in their condo on Seven Mile Beach! cayman sunset

Or an adventure in the Amazon? Volunteer Rozsika went to Peru last year to work on her master’s thesis and decided everyone should be able to experience the beauty of the jungle, so she managed to get this amazing trip donated for the auction.

peruvian sloth

Both of the above getaways will be available to our Seattle Out of the Box attendees. Did I mention you should get your tickets to this event asap?

For those who will be bidding online, perhaps you’ll be interested in four nights at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun or, for a more casual tropical retreat, bid on a week at The Beachouse in Fiji!

fiji swing

We even have a combination rock star and getaway item – a Recording Studio Vacation at a beautiful bed and breakfast  studio in Idaho! You can be your own creative genius for three days making an audio OR video project for private or commercial use, or bring your band to work on that first album!

recording studio

And all of that is only a small sampling of the auction items! Remember, online bidding opens May 4th and the Seattle event is that night. You can see which items will be available for bidding online by looking at the items as a full list or by sorting by category – the ones that are highlighted will be online; the ones not highlighted will be at the Seattle event.

All proceeds from the auctions will go towards the care of the chimpanzees and the sanctuary’s advocacy work. You can also donate directly to our very important fund-a-need, the veterinary clinic, right now.

Clinic 4-10-13