Our Chimps Need Your Help!

As you may know, I've been volunteering with Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue as a grant writer for almost eight years, shortly after moving to Portland.  Sanaga-Yong is a chimpanzee sanctuary deep in the forest of Cameroon that provides homes and life-long care to 76 chimpanzees.  It was founded in 1999 by Dr. Sheri Speede, a Portland veterinarian, following a trip to Cameroon where she met Jacky, Pepe, and Becky, three chimpanzees who were being cruelly held captive small cages at a hotel. Sheri simply couldn’t bear to see those and other animals suffering, and she knew she had to do something. With Jacky, Pepe, and Becky, Sheri established the sanctuary to provide permanent sanctuary for chimpanzee orphans, products of Cameroon’s illegal bushmeat, pet and international zoo trades. Some of the chimpanzees that were brought to the sanctuary were confiscated as infants from poachers or dealers, and others have suffered on chains or in small cages for decades before their rescue. To help prevent further chimpanzees from suffering the same fate, Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue is also focused on spearheading and supporting habitat protection, law enforcement and conservation education programs.

For more than 20 years, Sheri and her small staff in Cameroon have worked tirelessly for the chimpanzees.  Operating a chimpanzee sanctuary in the middle of the forest in Africa presents unique challenges that Sheri and her team have overcome.

Now, a challenge we're all - unfortunately - familiar with.  COVID-19. While Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue has adapted and found ways to mitigate the dangers of rescuing and caring for chimpanzees during the pandemic, COVID-19 has threatened our critical work in other ways far from the sanctuary grounds. 

I know it sounds cliche, but it's true: Now more than ever, Sanaga-Yong needs your help to continue our work.  We have had to cancel all in-person events this year, which is how we typically fund up to a quarter of our annual operations budget. This fundraiser is crucial for us to make up some of that funding.  In addition to event cancellations, grant opportunities have diminished considerably as foundations have been forced to curtail their giving for 2020. On top of decreased funding, supply chain interruptions in Cameroon have also created scarcity and increased prices of critical medications and necessary supplies required to keep the sanctuary operating.  Even in a pandemic, the sanctuary staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly to ensure the chimpanzees receive the highest quality of care without compromise.  

Your donation for Giving Day for Apes will go directly to the care of the chimpanzees and help Sanaga-Yong provide:

1. Four daily meals of fresh fruits, vegetables and necessary staples for good health
2. Highly skilled veterinary care
3. Critical medications, daily vitamins and baby milk formula
4. Dedicated and experienced caregivers
5. Meticulously maintained, secure enclosures that include natural habitat forest

While the sanctuary faces unexpected and unprecedented challenges this year, our commitment to their 76 rescued chimpanzees is as strong as ever. I have every confidence that the sanctuary will never let the chimpanzees down, and our dedication to programs ensuring the future of free-living chimpanzees, gorillas and other endangered wildlife has not faltered one bit. 

Thank you for joining me in supporting Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue!

Sincerely, 

Lauren