Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

wishlist

Who’s That Chimp?

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George and Cy continue to live together as one step of many in our efforts to integrate George into Cy’s group. There is not much to report at this point, which is good news! They continue to get along well and are navigating the intricacies of living with someone else, including where to nest at night.

Meanwhile, life goes on throughout the Chimp House. Today everyone is making the most of some sunshine and spending time relaxing in their Greenhouses. A certain someone came up to greet me as I was walking around the Chimp House, looking for inspiration for this blog. So now…let’s play a game of “Who’s that chimp?!” I’ve placed the photos in order of hardest to identify to easiest (in my opinion). See how few photos it takes for you to guess who it is!

Time to get your final guesses in!! Scroll down to reveal the answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Lucky! She was enjoying watching the camera as I took photos, and sat patiently as I did my best to capture even a little bit of her beauty in a photo. In case you missed it – Caregiver Jenna threw a great party to celebrate Lucky’s birthday this week!

Speaking of birthdays…Willy B’s birthday is coming up on November 30th, and we’d like to get him as many durable bouncy toys as we can! He loves to bounce and throw them (and Gordo enjoys them too!). If you’d like to send some durable bouncy toys for Willy B’s birthday, check out our Chewy wish list and consider donating any of the Ruff Dawg toys from our list.

Community

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I could not help but feel incredibly moved this morning, as myself and volunteers Erin and Tanya were cleaning the Greenhouse portion of the chimpanzee’s living quarters. There is a brightly colored painting with supporter names on the one main wall that caught my attention and I stopped to really look at it. There are so many names on the wall. As I continued to look around at all of the items in the Greenhouse, all I could think about was how every component of the sanctuary is the result of a community of loving, thoughtful and caring people.

There are so many components that make up the sanctuary, including various paintings on the walls that really help to brighten the chimpanzee areas. Various structures, tires and dangling fire hoses provide space for the chimps to climb, play, and rest. Countless blankets and enrichment items contribute to the chimpanzees’ comfort and well-being. Even the tools we use to clean, including the scrub brushes, squeegees, buckets, soap, right down to the very gloves we wear, help staff and volunteers keep the enclosures clean. Fresh fruits and vegetables make up each of the meals, while bamboo planted around Young’s Hill and in the Greenhouse give the chimps extra nesting and foraging material. And then there are the enclosures and storage spaces themselves that have been made possible by those who have donated their time, energy, expertise and the actual materials needed to construct them.

All of CSNW, every square inch, every little detail, has been made possible by countless volunteers and generous supporters. These chimpanzees are loved world wide and I can’t think of a better gift to give them than a community that is dedicated to their well-being. I know it can never make up for the countless ways in which they have been wronged in the past, but it’s the best we all can do to provide them a now and a future that is full of hope, love and sanctuary.

Looking around and seeing all the parts that make up the whole got me to thinking, why do we do it? Why do we dedicate our lives to the well-being of these chimpanzees? Is it a sense of responsibility, a way to show our compassion for all living beings, or is it when we look into their eyes, we see ourselves? Perhaps there are no words to describe why. What is your reason for being a part of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest?

Annie
web_Annie_sit_structure_leg_up_YH_kh_IMG_0755

Burrito
web_Burrito_mouthful_chow_forage_sit_GH_kh_IMG_9576

Foxie
web_Foxie_closeup_face_FR4_kh_IMG_5756

Jamie
web_Jamie_walk_look_at_camera_YH_kd_IMG_1393

Jody
web_Jody_forage_grass_in_mouth_YH_kd_IMG_1397

Missy
web_Missy_forage_native_plant_in_mouth_YH_kd_IMG_1388

Negra
web_Negra_eat_lettuce_forage_look_at_camera_PR_kh_IMG_8755

Which ever way you choose to support the sanctuary, know that you have and will continue to make a huge impact on the lives of these chimpanzees. And thank you!!! Thank you those who have and those who continue to volunteer at the sanctuary; those who have donated their time, energy and services to help our various fundraising efforts including the HOOT! Gala event; those who help spread the word about the plight of chimpanzees in captivity and in the wild through our Eyes on Apes advocacy program; those who have donated items through our Wishlist, and those who choose to Sponsor a day in honor of a loved one or directly sponsor a chimpanzee through our Chimpanzee Pal program. Thank you for being a part of the CSNW community.

Christmas in July!

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Help Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest by donating items from our Christmas in July wish list

The past few months have been full of parties, as we celebrated Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s five-year anniversary, Negra’s 40th birthday, Independence Day and the announcements by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Institutes of Health. Plus the Roslyn Olympics celebrating Foxie and her love of troll dolls is just two days away (check out the new Facebook page)! With so many festive parties, it almost feels like the holiday season, so we’ve decided to celebrate Christmas in July!

The CSNW team sure knows how to stretch a dollar. We want to give the chimpanzees the best, and sometimes that means living with less than ideal things for ourselves. However, we are at a point where we need some items replaced so that we can operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. Take a look at our Christmas in July wish list that the whole staff put together, and consider making our day by selecting a present to donate. With your gifts we will be able to…

Organize the kitchen in the chimp house and office in the caregiver house:

dishes and sink at chimp house

office closet

Replace our humble office chairs:

office chair

Power clean the chimp house:

Debbie cleaning

And, of course, we have some items for the chimps on the wish list too…

Foxie throwing troll

Thank you all for your continued support. We are looking forward to our newly stocked and organized office and chimp house and we look forward to sharing before and after photos with you!
wish list

Donation Drive Extravaganza!

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donation drive extravaganza flyer

Big thanks to the Seattle Animal Defense League for organizing a Donation Drive Extravaganza for the Animals to benefit Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest as well as Precious Life Animal Sanctuary and Pigs Peace Sanctuary. The drive is underway now and ends February 13th.

 

Here’s how it works:

Anyone can donate money in the form of checks made out to the sanctuary of your choice, cash brought to the drop-off locations, or through this paypal account.

The drive was also set up to collect wish list items for the sanctuaries (see list below) and there are several convenient drop off locations in the Seattle area (see other list below). If you want to donate something specific for the chimps, be sure to label it “CSNW” or “for the chimps” or something else obvious. You can donate anything from our online wishlist, in addition to the general wish list below that covers all three sanctuaries.

For more information, of if you have any questions, email SADF at [email protected]

All of this information is also on their Facebook event page. Please spread the news about the drive! RSVP to the event and share with your FB friends.

WISH LIST:
money!
fresh fruits and vegetables
trash bags
(HE) laundry detergent
bleach
soy protein powder
buckets
scrub brushes
vegan chewable vitamins
boot and western wear catalogs
boots (of any size)
troll dolls
canned fruit
uncooked pasta
vegetarian dog treats
peanuts (unsalted)
towels
peanut butter
wet and dry cat food (preferably friskies)
cat litter
rabbit pellets (preferably honor brand)
wet cob
rolled oats junior or senior equine feed
orchard grass or alfalfa
dry dog food (preferably pinnacle or nature’s choice)

 

DROP OFF LOCATIONS:
Pizza Pi Vegan Pizzeria
5500 University Way NE

Wayward Cafe
5253 University Way NE

Araya’s Place
1121 NE 45th St

Chocolate Shoebox
7410 Greenwood Ave North

Mighty O Donuts
2210 N 55th St

Downtown Dog Lounge
420 E Denny Way

Georgetown Liquor Company
5501 Airport Way S

Evergreen Holistic Vet
14711 Fryelands Blvd (Monroe)

Thanks also to the businesses who are serving as drop off locations!

Help us go pro

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UPDATE: We’ve reached our goal! Thanks so much – we look forward to trying out this new camera soon.

Supporters Candy and Kathy have started a mini-fundraising drive to help us purchase the GoPro camera that is on our Amazon wishlist. A GoPro is a small high definition video camera that is rugged and waterproof. We’re hoping that once the snow melts, we can mount it on a fence post and capture some interesting video of the chimps on Young’s Hill.

Thanks to Candy and Kathy, we’re already halfway to our goal of $200. If you like to help us reach our goal, you can donate and let us know that you’d like your donation to go towards the new camera.

Adorable Burrito and NEW STUFF

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First, adorable Burrito – a photo taken tonight at dinner with our fab new camera:

Burrito eating a pear

Now for the new stuff! I was away for a few days to spend the x-mas holiday with family, and when I returned, the chimp house had been transformed! Thanks to everyone who got us the new stuff off of our amazon.com wishlist!!

J.B. picked me up at the airport in Seattle yesterday and we went to a store to purchase the new computer. After consulting everyone who had donated towards our new and improved technology (Candy Crannell, Kathy B., Gayle, Leslie, Barb in Ohio, Theresa, Catherine M., Jeani, Pam and Sue), we decided to go with a desktop. It was less expensive than the laptops, and we managed to get an even better deal on it at the store. So, we also purchased a much needed printer (ours broke about a week ago) and a large memory card for our new camera. Check out the snazzy looking office space in the chimp house now! Photos and videos look AMAZING on that big screen and the printer works like a champ.

new imac, printer, camera

Here are the other great gifts we received from generous supporters that have improved our days in the chimp house. We so appreciate your support and your response to my Holiday Wishes post about the things we needed.

Boot dryer for Jamie’s collection of boots:

boot dryer

Stainless steel bowls for produce:

bowl

Ergonomic kitchen mat for volunteers and staff working at the sink:

kitchen mat

Coffee maker for volunteers and staff. A welcome return to caffeine!

new coffee maker

New foot bath mat – no more tripping over the old pan and bleaching our pants.

foot bath mat

Much needed hand-soap. Isn’t this a nice, artistic shot? It was also taken with our new camera.

hand soap

We also received new memory cards for the cameras, which helped us to post this. And new blankets for the chimps (my favorite is a chili pepper blanket). And some awesome crayons for the chimps.

Wow, huh? We are pretty lucky to have such generous and thoughtful Santas among our supporters. We’re off to a great New Year already!

New camera!

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The chimps aren’t the only ones receiving gifts this holiday season. Our Board of Directors has generously donated the digital SLR camera from our wishlist. It’s similar to Diana’s personal camera that we have been using, but it has the added capability of recording video.

Because it accepts all of the same zoom lenses, we can now film the chimps in areas of the building that were previously out of range for the point and shoot camera. Plus it will allow us to get great close up video when they are roaming their two-acre enclosure this summer. Take a look: