Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sponsor-a-day

Happy Anniversary to Dan and Peggy Smith!

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Today’s sponsor-a-day is from Dan and Peggy Smith. Dan and Peggy stopped by the sanctuary Sunday to drop off TONS of produce and super soft blankets for the chimps. Peggy sent me a little note that I wanted to share with you:

“The Cle Elum Seven became a part of our lives since we were “introduced” to them at the Veg-fest in Seattle in 2009. We chose to sponsor Jody after finding out she was the least selected of the group. It is interesting to see each one’s personality develop within the group and become a family unit, and to see Jody slowly start to join in with some of the fun. They have had difficult times and I am so happy to see them laugh and play games, or to just make a bed and rest peacefully. The work being done by the people involved at the sanctuary has made such a big difference in these seven lives. We really appreciate the good work you are doing. That is why the best gift we could think of for our wedding anniversary was to give a gift of food and blankets to our favorite group. We had so much fun shopping for the food, thinking of each chimp and how they would enjoy it. Being able to share with them will make this a very memorable anniversary for us.
Love to all,
Dan & Peggy”

Happy, happy anniversary, Dan and Peggy, and thanks for all you do for Jody and all the Cle Elum Seven! Jody is a very lucky gal to have such great Pals!

Special thanks to Three Rivers HomeLink’s Leadership Class!

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Today’s sponsor-a-day is from Three Rivers HomeLink’s Leadership class. Three Rivers is an alternative learning center for grades K-12 based out of Richland, WA. The Leadership Class has been following our blog and learning about the chimps and have chosen to honor the Cle Elum Seven by sponsoring today! They sent us the following note and photo:

Dear Chimp Sanctuary NW,
Thank you for all your love and hard work for the seven adorable angels we have been promoting at our school! The pictures on Facebook & your blog have allowed us to showcase what you do and although it’s not a huge amount we wanted to show our love for Foxie, Jamie, Negra, Burrito, Missy, Annie, and Jody!

What a fun class, huh?! I just love this photo! Thanks so much to Johanna for keeping these kids informed and engaged, and to the kids for being the next generation of ambassadors for chimpanzees!

Here’s our own head honcho and fashionista, Jamie:

Cinco de Mayo Party

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The ladies at the Tacoma chapter of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs sure know how to help us put on a party! As mentioned in the post earlier today, they sponsored today and sent us enrichment for a Cinco de Mayo party. And a party we had!

Along with some beach/summer-themed enrichment, the ladies sent us a Safeway gift card so that we could get some yummy produce for the party. So, on the Mexicali menu was tortillas, avocados, tomatoes, cabbage, and leeks (a chimp favorite!). In addition, we juiced some limes and added Key Lime Sparkling Water for our own version of virgin margaritas, poured into tiny plastic shot glasses, of course.

The margaritas smelled just like the real thing! In my opinion, they tasted WAY too tart, but the chimps loved them!! Here’s Jamie going for as many “shots” as possible:

And Annie, relaxing with the last drop of hers:

The tortillas were a big hit, too. I unfortunately didn’t get any photos of her, but bread-loving Negra was SO excited!

Jody:

Missy:

The ladies sent lots of festive beach bags and towels. We added a few beach appropriate things to the bags to fit the theme, such as magazines, combs (for when your hair gets messy after swimming), mirrors, hair clips, plastic shovels for the kids, an extra pair of sandals, etc…

Here’s Missy checking one out:

And how could this possibly be a real party if Foxie didn’t get some new trolls:


Thanks so much, ladies!! We’ve had a great day– and it’s not over! On tonight’s menu is beans and rice with corn on the cob! YUM!

More enhanced enrichment puzzles

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Thanks to volunteer Cari Parker, we have more enhanced enrichment puzzles. Cari’s friend Stephanie sponsored today in honor of Cari’s Birthday, so Cari sent us a box of enrichment for the occasion. Included in the box of goodies were some PVC pipe puzzles. There is a photo with an explanation in the video below.

Keeping the chimps (especially super smart Jamie) enriched is a challenge. We are always trying to come up with new puzzle ideas- and these are great! (Thanks, Cari!) If you ever have any ideas you would like to share, please email me at [email protected]