Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Fundraising

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.

Anniversary Wishes & Board Match

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As the newest member of the team and working from home in Seattle, I don’t have the day to day interaction with the chimpanzees that the caregivers do. However, I’ve been working at the Sanctuary this week, so I had the opportunity to hang out with the chimpanzees for quite some time and got to partake in the anniversary and birthday parties this week.

Happy Birthday Negra! That was the chant heard round the chimp house on Wednesday as we celebrated her birthday. Here’s a photo of Negra from one of the celebrations the chimpanzees enjoyed. One of Negra’s favorite things are her night bags – and so we gave the chimpanzees special ones today during the day and in the photo you can see Negra running to come get hers.

Negra running for her special night bag

As you probably know, for our four year anniversary we are raising funds to build Negra a cabin on Young’s Hill and I wanted to tell you about some exciting news! The Board and Staff of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest will match the next $4,000 in donations – of any amount! Yes, that’s right. Your gift will be doubled by the leadership of the sanctuary. You can support the campaign by clicking here. All donations of any amount are welcome – and all will be matched until we reach $4,000 in donations. And remember, for donations of $100 or more, you can have your name listed on Negra’s cabin and your $100 donation will be doubled!

If you’ve already supported the campaign with a donation, thank you. Thank you for your support of Negra – and the other chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Because of you she can enjoy her favorite baked foods, peanuts and lettuce in a peaceful and safe setting with the other chimpanzees that have come to be her family. And soon, she will have a comfortable and secure place to enjoy the views from Young’s Hill. Thank you!

 

 

Race for the Apes was so much fun!

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Our first ever 5K fundraiser was a blast. Big, big thank you to volunteers April Graham and Laura Heggs for organizing the Ellensburg event – you did a terrific job! After expenses, the event raised $5,530 for the sanctuary!

Here are a few photos to prove how much fun it was:

Volunteers Seana (who was also the raffle sponsor), Connie and Emily working on registration under race organizer April’s direction, with our new Director of Development, Michael, looking on:
registration table

 

The start of the great chalk messaging courtesy of volunteer Stephanie:

chalk welcome

 

Board member Jessica (right) and partner Lisa donned tutus in honor of Jamie:

Lisa and Jessica in tutus

 

Race organizer April of AlignFit leading a stretching class prior to the start of the run:

April's stretching class

 

the runners approaching the start line:

approaching start line

 

and they’re off!

beginning of race

 

About 15 minutes later, the “troll strollers” (walkers) began:

walkers starting

 

in just 21 minutes, 37 seconds, the first runner, Kurtis, crossed the finish line:

Kurtis crossing the finish line

 

two minutes, eight seconds later, the fastest woman in the race, Keri, crossed the finish:

 

Event organizer Laura Heggs, running to the finish after clearing up some signs from the course:

Laura running to the finish

 

One of the glitter-bombed “trollphy” awards:

glitter bombed troll doll

 

This is just a small sampling of the photos from the event. Visit the full gallery and purchase your favorites – proceeds from sales go to the chimps!

Thanks to sponsors Gorilla Screen Printing for the discount on the great t-shirts, Zing Bars for delicious post-running nutrition (the coconut chocolate bars are amaZING!) and AlignFit for the stretching class. Individual donors, like Ape Ally Adrienne Armstrong, made a huge difference in the success of the fundraiser. See all sponsors and donors  here.

Our volunteers are always top-notch and dove right in to the new event.

And the participants were terrific!

We can’t wait to do it again!

Greetings from a new team member

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Happy Friday!  I wanted to take a few lines here on our blog and introduce myself.  My name is Michael Moore and I’m delighted to have joined the amazing team at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest as the new Development Director.   I’m excited to be back working in animal welfare and in particular for the Cle Elum 7.  I’ve been on board for a few weeks now and I’m in the process of getting to know the staff and chimps and they are getting to know me.  In fact, I’ve been spit on by Jody and Jamie wanted my boots on the first day so I’m feeling very welcome already.  I’ll be joining the team in sharing stories about the chimps with you, some insider information you can only get here, and hearing about your connections to the chimps and passion for animals!  I’ll also be working at building on the great fundraising work the staff here have already done – which has been amazing!  So, I’m looking forward to having  fun sharing fundraising ideas with you, hearing your suggestions about fundraising, and asking for your help in promoting the Sanctuary!  Feel free to contact me directly at [email protected].

Photos from Sippin’

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If you purchased tickets for last week’s Sippin’ for the Seven, you should have received an email today with a link to a survey about the event (Did you attend the event but didn’t get an email with a link? The survey is here).

Enjoy the photo montage below with photos of the event by Jonathan Houser and music by Lenny Price. I think the photos show what a great evening it was and what a great success both Sippin’and Biddin’ were for the chimpanzees!

 

Shed in the Rain

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Today is caregiver Jackie’s birthday and you can wish her a happy birthday on Facebook. While Jackie was celebrating her day, I really felt like it was my birthday at the sanctuary because construction on “my” shed has begun!

At the Out of the Box 2011 auction in October, 16 people (in some cases, couples) donated towards my “adoption” and what I was really wanting, in my heart of hearts, was a shed to store all of the event set-up and tabling materials, merchandise and other various sanctuary stuff that has crept into the garage and the part of the house that J.B. and I rent from the sanctuary. I was dreaming kind of big, but Keith LaChappelle, Audrey & Jim Spencer, Jack & Sue Mulcahy, Max Carriveau, Jeani Goodrich, Julie Harding, Anika Lehde, Pam Lehnert & Marc Warner, Jessica Martinson & Lisa Cossette, Helen Payton, Dot & Allan Rothfus, Felicity Wood, Cathy Parker, Connie Robertson & Bill Lamm, and Barbara Boekholt gave towards my “adoption” and Jim Spencer even offered up his time and skills to build the shed.

And now it’s becoming a reality! Jim, who traveled all the way from Whidbey Island, Doug Bucklin and J.B. have spent the last two muddy and rainy days outside all day making my storage dreams start to come true. It has been especially heartwarming to see this happening and remembering Barbara Boekholt’s donation in particular. Barbara was Julie’s mom and she recently passed away. She was not well enough to attend the auction last year, but she sent Julie with a check just for my “adoption.”

This shed is no small-deal. We have a lot to store! It’s almost 200 square feet and it will have two windows (we’re using the windows that we removed from the chimp house (minus the caging) when we replaced them with chimp proof glass).

In the first photo below, you’ll noticed some very large logs. J.B. was also “adopted” at the auction and his project was to build new structures on Young’s Hill. Guess what those logs are for?!

 

Jim leading the crew with J.B. and Doug following instruction:

logs in front of shed construction

 

J.B. waiting for the word to start using power tools, Doug and Jim making sure things are level:

shed first wall

 

J.B. standing in front of the shed at the end of today:

JB in front of shedJ

See you tonight!

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Tonight is the Out of the Box gala auction! This is going to be a phenomenal event with so many different things to bid on. There’s going to be a multitude of items in the silent auction, including impressive and beautiful handmade art pieces, great deals on local restaurants and other businesses, and amazing wine packages. The live auction features tons of fun getaways and even a private tour of the sanctuary. Buy a raffle ticket to get a chance to win a live auction item of your choice! You can also contribute by adopting a caregiver, and help sustain the sanctuary’s operating costs at the Do it Now board. I’m really excited and hope you are too!

This year’s Fund-a-Need item is probably our most important item yet. We want to open an on-site medical clinic, so that in case the chimps need medical care, they will get to wake up next to family. Do it for Negra!

And don’t forget about the online auction, which opened up for bidding this morning! It will just go until Sunday, so hurry up and place your bids quick! This is a great way for long-distance supporters to take part in the Out of the Box auction. (And for local attendees, too—there’s items available online that won’t be available tonight!)

Negra on Young's Hill