Negra did some spying on me today. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy my dancing while watching me through the mirror. Maybe she didn’t want me to know just how much she was liking it?
seattle
220 posts adopted on this significant day
Exactly three years ago today, the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees left their laboratory lives behind and began the journey to the sanctuary.
And today we reached our 3rd anniversary fundraising goal – all 220 fence posts on Young’s Hill have been adopted. We have a LOT to celebrate!
The seven individuals we have cared for these past three years have changed and grown so much, and we’ve been so happy to be able to chronicle these transformations.
As amazed and in awe of the Cle Elum Seven as we are, we are equally amazed by the supporters of this organization.
We are all so grateful to you – the people who read the blog, connect with us on Facebook, send donations, attend events, volunteer, and write emails and letters on behalf of great apes.
There would be no Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest without you.
Here’s the first chimpanzee photo we posted on this blog, taken from this June 10, 2010 blog post.
Jody in her transport cage on the way to sanctuary:
and here are just a few of my favorite photos of Jody over the last few years:
Jody’s Birthday Spa Day
A lot of good people came together to pull off an awesome birthday/mother’s day bash for our Jody Chimpanzee! As always, two of the best chimp shoppers I know, Dick and Robbi Brown, brought gift bags full of new toys and decorations, long-time supporter Tamela sent us a donation to make sure the chimps had lots of yummy food, and volunteers Katelyn and Stephanie topped everything off with their awesome party ideas and additions!
Last week, I did some brainstorming with Katelyn and Stephanie, and we decided to make the day a “Spa Day”. Jody loves to lounge- we even recently caught her doing some serious lounging in the sandbox. She spends a lot of her time making very elaborate nests of 25 blankets or more and dives in them face first with a loud “ahh” sound (you may have heard us call this her dinosaur noise). Katelyn and Stephanie brought all the right ingredients for a spa day, including super-soft robes, magazines, slippers, eye pillows, plastic wine glasses, two big fluffy pillows and blankets. As if that isn’t enough, my new favorite florist, Terra Bella Flowers, an organic florist in Seattle, donated some food-grade quality roses for the chimps’ party. It was a girly, girly day! (sorry, you’re outnumbered, Mr. B!)
The following is a short video of some clips from the party, but see the photos below for the good stuff!
Annie going through a gift bag from Dick and Robbi Brown:
Burrito enjoying his mini bok choy
Foxie sending her mama love to her new troll baby:
Jody LOVED the banana blossoms! I had never heard of them before, but she was thrilled!
Terra Bella Flowers made Jody’s day with the roses they donated! She sat here with me the whole time I passed them out. I was even letting her pick out the ones she wanted out of the bunch. She is the birthday girl and all!
Negra enjoying her Terra Bella Rose:
Katelyn and Stephanie also bought a couple of pillows, which Jody spent some quality time with (once all the food and flowers were gone, of course!)
Thanks so much to volunteers Katelyn, Stephanie, and Grace; Dick and Robbi; Tamela; and Terra Bella Florist for making Jody’s day so special! Happy Mama’s Day to all the mama’s out there!
Food!
We are forever indebted to Chris, DeVar and the rest of the staff at our local Safeway supermarket. They have been supplying us with great produce since the day the chimps arrived in Cle Elum. Thanks to them, we rarely have to purchase fruits and vegetables for the chimps.
Last summer, our friends at Spud.com in Seattle took an interest in the Cle Elum Seven, and began sending car loads of organic produce our way.
Burrito really enjoys all of this great food. And we love watching him eat.
MacBook update
Are you ready? We now have $1,225 pledged or received towards the MacBook Pro! The current price on our amazon.com wish list is $1,705.99, which means we only need $481 to make the purchase!
Big, big thanks to Candy Crannell for spearheading this fundraising and making a large pledge yesterday, and to Kathy B., Gayle, Leslie, Theresa, Catherine M., Jeani, and Pam!
Consider joining this group of supporters. You’ll keep the blog going strong by replacing our dying computer in the chimp house. You can mail a check (PO Box 952, Cle Elum, WA) or donate online. Just send me a quick email: [email protected] or leave a comment on this post to let me know your pledge.
We’re close!
Young’s Hill and Out of the Box
We just sent out an e-news announcement with a link to the video below.
Sign up for our e-newsletter if you didn’t receive the announcement, and
check out the video below to learn about our new dream!
(view in full screen mode for full effect – click on the brackets below the video image)
Share this video! Just direct people to this blog post or this link: https://chimpsnw.org/events/auction2010/video.php
Evening Magazine tonight!
The feature about Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest that aired several months ago on King 5’s Evening Magazine is re-airing TONIGHT. Watch it and tell everyone you know to watch it! The show begins at 7pm and it looks like CSNW will be the second story. For those not in the Seattle area, hopefully they will post a video on their website after it airs: http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine
Update after the airing – link to the video online: http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Retired-chimps-living-in-luxury-99898444.html