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Archive for the ‘Volunteers’ Category

Meet the humans

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

Around here we all rightfully view the chimpanzees as the stars of the show. But behind the scenes there are some amazing and wonderful humans who make every day go smoothly and safely. I’m so proud of our team and all they do for the chimps. You can see by the human faces in these pictures that we love our jobs! But you can also see how we safely interact with the chimpanzees without putting them (or ourselves) at risk. The chimpanzees can reach out and groom our elbows or wrists (as you’ll see with Seana all the way at the end) and they can put their bodies up against the fencing so we can tickle or groom them, but we never cross the barrier of the fence. Their space is their space, period.

Elizabeth and Foxie:

Jackie and Jody:

Diana and Foxie:

JB and Missy:

Me (Sarah) with Burrito:

Ooops… we apparently need more pictures of our newest staff member, Debbie:

And here are just a few of our dedicated volunteer caregivers!

Deb W and Burrito:

Steph P and Jamie:

Seana B and Jamie:

Find us all on Facebook so we can get to know you too!

Tags: Burrito, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum 7, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, young's hill
Posted in Burrito, Caregivers, enrichment, Foxie, Grooming, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Sanctuary, Volunteers, Young's Hill | 19 Comments »

Today we honor David John Parkinson

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Today is sponsored by Margaret Parkinson and Karen Creason in honor of Margaret’s beloved brother David John Parkinson, who died on December 11th in Margaret and David’s native New Zealand. Margaret and Karen are some of the warmest people you could ever hope to meet. They’re chimp house volunteers and long-time supporters whose love for the chimpanzees is obvious to anyone who meets them (and it’s reciprocated – the chimps adore them!). They had this to say about David and why they chose to sponsor a day in his name:

“David helped Margaret feel cared for all her life and we want [the Cle Elum Seven] to feel cared for in his honor.”

Here’s Missy grooming her “brother”, Burrito:

Tags: Animal Welfare, Burrito, chimpanzee rescue, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum 7, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, Sanctuary, sponsor-a-day
Posted in Burrito, Sanctuary, sponsor-a-day, Thanks, Volunteers | 2 Comments »

Happy faces

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Did I mention that I love Jamie-ween’s Hallo-Birthday at CSNW? As if The Great Pumpkin and all the treats in the Playroom weren’t enough, volunteers Stephanie and Katelyn carved mini pumpkins and filled them with various fruits and veggies (cucumbers, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, etc) for the chimps’ lunch forage in the greenhouse. I think the chimps were already stuffed at that point, but they enjoyed them none the less! Needless to say, no one, not even Burrito, was interested in dinner.

The carved mini pumpkins:

If you take a closer look at the photo above, you might noticed that one of the pumpkins has a “CS” on it. And you may notice that in the photo below, Burrito’s carved pumpkin has a “W” on it. It was impossible to really get a good photo of the whole thing, but it says CSNW. Stephanie is so creative.

They also carved faces into melons:

Jamie:

Jody:

Foxie looks like she’s mimicking the face of hers

What a great day. Thanks so much to Stephanie, Katelyn, Tamela, Dick and Robbi for all the awesome gifts and decorations for the party and to all of those who donated in honor of Jamie’s big day! You guys are the BEST!

Tags: Animal Welfare, Burrito, chimp, chimp enrichment, chimpanzee, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum 7, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, northwest, primate protection, primate rescue, Sanctuary
Posted in Burrito, enrichment, Food, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, party, Sanctuary, Thanks, Volunteers | 9 Comments »

Out of the Box!

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Tickets are now on sale for Out of the Box 2011, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s gala auction in Seattle. They are going fast, so get yours while they last!

There will also be an online auction for out-of-town supporters. The online auction site is up and we’ve added information about our important Fund-a-Need project. Auction items will be added in the coming weeks, and there will be some incredible items! The online auction is shorter this year: October 7-9th.

I am looking for a few more Individual Sponsors for the event. We have some specific expenses that need covering, including $250 worth of gas for the truck we are renting to get all of the auction stuff from Cle Elum to Seattle and back ($250 is a Play Face Sponsor level), about $500 (Play Laugh Sponsor level) for really cool volunteer auction t-shirts (we’ll sell a few too), and about $500 in printing costs (another Play Laugh Sponsor could cover this).

Individual Sponsorships range from $100 Head Nod / Table Sponsors to $5,000 Pant Hoot Sponsors, with some fun sponsor levels in between. Perhaps blog readers could team up to donate towards a particular level? Learn more about who’s already stepped up to sponsor and how you can do the same on our Auction Sponsors page or just send me an email: diana@ChimpsNW.org.

Out of the Box 2011 is truly our biggest event to date. Volunteers worked really hard to procure awesome things for you to bid on. The Seattle event is going to have a wonderful food and wine, thanks to the chef at Bell Harbor and generous donations from Field Roast Grain Meat and Goose Ridge Vineyard and Winery, plus more wine from Dulces Bistro & Wine, Chandler Reach and Saviah Cellars.

Personally, I can’t wait!

Tags: chimp, chimpanzee, event, Fundraising, northwest, out of the box, primate, protection, Sanctuary, seattle
Posted in Events, Fundraising, Volunteers | Comments Off

Frozen treats for a hot day

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

I know I’ve said it before- we have some pretty amazing volunteers here at CSNW. Volunteers Katelyn and Stephanie came up with the idea to freeze juice, blueberries, and raspberries in water bottles for an afternoon forage and today was the perfect day for it. It’s been several hours since we put them out, and the chimps are still looking for bottles. Thanks for keeping everyone enriched- and cool- ladies!

Tags: Animal Welfare, Annie, Burrito, chimp enrichment, chimp sanctuary, chimpanzee rescue, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum 7, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, enrichment, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary
Posted in Burrito, enrichment, Food, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Thanks, Volunteers | 8 Comments »

CSNW is a trendy establishment

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

A couple weeks ago, volunteer Connie mentioned that she had a lot of pea plants and was inquiring whether or not the plant parts would be OK for the chimps to munch on. I did a little bit of online research and discovered that yes, the parts of a pea plant are indeed edible. In fact, there was this great article that describes it fairly humorously in my opinion: “You’ve probably seen them on plates in Asian restaurants and trendy establishments. Pea shoots and tendrils may look exotic or sophisticated, but even gardeners who can’t grow peas to maturity can grow pea shoots and tendrils.”

Well, Connie was able to grow not only the pea shoots and tendrils, but also the peas to full maturity in their pods! Today we put them out as a forage and the chimps really enjoyed them.

Negra, with the pea plants in the background:

Annie, taking a break and laying down while eating her peas:

Burrito:

Missy:

Tags: Animal Welfare, Annie, Burrito, chimp, chimp sanctuary, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, Missy, Negra, primate protection, Sanctuary
Posted in Annie, Burrito, Food, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Volunteers | 10 Comments »

Photos from Foxie’s birthday party!

Monday, August 8th, 2011

It’s Foxie’s 35th birthday today! And we decided to celebrate by creating a huge troll bonanza for the troll-loving lady. We literally put out at least a hundred new trolls, most of which participated in last week’s Troll Olympics.

Here’s a few pictures from the day, tomorrow I’ll post some video from the party!

Some of the trolls in the sandbox:

Foxie picked out a couple of her favorites:

Troll blanket, found and troll-adorned by volunteer Jeani:

Foxie checking out the troll blanket:

We hung some frozen watermelon from the ceiling in the outdoor area, which the chimps really loved. Foxie eating her watermelon:

Jody munching on some watermelon:

More to come tomorrow!

Tags: animal protection, Animal Welfare, chimp enrichment, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, enrichment, Foxie, Jody, primate protection, primate rescue, Sanctuary, troll
Posted in enrichment, Food, Foxie, Jody, party, Sanctuary, Trolls, Volunteers | 14 Comments »

Mop Heads!

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Supporter Tamela sponsored today in honor of the caregivers of CSNW! The following is what she wrote:

Here’s a big pant hoot salute to all the wonderful caregivers and volunteers who wash, scrub, and clean for the chimpanzees. Thank you for all the mundane, exhausting, never ending, backbreaking work you do.

To honor us hard-working, dirty caregivers, she named today “Mop Head Day”. So, 18 mop heads arrived at the sanctuary the other day with tons of little toys tied to them. And in case the mop heads weren’t exciting enough on their own (though I imagine they would have been), mixed nuts were hidden inside various toys. It’s been an interesting, and very comfortable day around here at CSNW.

Thanks so much, Tamela! Pant Hoots to YOU!

Tags: chimpanzee, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum 7, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, enrichment, Foxie, northwest, Sanctuary, sponsor-a-day
Posted in Annie, Caregivers, enrichment, Food, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, nesting, party, Sanctuary, sponsor-a-day, Thanks, Volunteers | 9 Comments »

Foxie & Grace play chase

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

We, obviously, have some especially lovable chimps around here, but when I witness super cute games like the one in the video below, I have a hard time deciding who I love more– the chimps or the caregivers.

The chimps are excellent at keeping our priorities straight. When Negra is ready for her nightbag, she is READY for her nightbag, and will let it be known that nothing will satisfy her until she gets it. Foxie is a good “prioritizer”, too. She will often toss us a troll right as we are getting ready to lock up at the end of the day. Perfect timing! She also frequently “stalls” us when we are cleaning. And her caregivers will pretty much do anything to appease, no matter how sweaty they get!

Tags: Animal Welfare, chimpanzee, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum 7, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, enrichment, Foxie, Play, rescue, Sanctuary
Posted in Caregivers, Foxie, Play, Sanctuary, Volunteers | 9 Comments »

photos of the day

Saturday, July 16th, 2011

First, Lynn brought in some more trolls for Foxie’s birthday and the Troll Olympics. I have become quite familiar with the facial features of troll dolls these past three years, and I noticed one troll in Lynn’s batch whose ears were slightly different than those I had seen before. I realized she reminded me of one of the chimps…

Take a look at the photos below and tell me you think.

Troll doll with chimp ears?:

Annie, also with chimp ears:

I believe there’s a definite resemblance. What do you think?

Enough about troll dolls for the moment, here are some great photos that J.B. took yesterday:

Burrito eating cattails from the pond on the property:

Missy being cool:

Negra being Neggie:

Tags: Animal Welfare, Annie, Burrito, chimp, chimpanzee, csnw, enrichment, Negra, northwest, Sanctuary, troll dolls
Posted in Annie, Burrito, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Trolls, Volunteers | 12 Comments »

Welcome to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest's blog! The sanctuary is currently home to seven chimpanzees released from biomedical research. This group, the Cle Elum Seven, arrived at the sanctuary on June 13, 2008. We post photos, stories, videos and more to this blog almost everyday, so visit often! Also, visit us on social networking sites (see links below).