Counting our blessings

by Gloria Grow
fall 2002 newsletter

At Fauna, every day, either through some small meaningful interaction or in some spectacular and surprising way, we are reminded of the many friends and supporters we have. We know it would be impossible to do the work without your help. To each and every one of you, we send our deep appreciation, our gratitude and love.

A big thank you to our wonderful friends at NEAVS. How very blessed we are to have their friendship and support. A van load of blankets, sheets, towels, toys, magazines, food, dishes and amazing people showed up at our door all the way from Boston bearing gifts for the chimps, and the best gift to all of us here - their friendship. Inside this newsletter, you will also find a pamphlet produced by NEAVS and donated to Fauna Thank you Dr. Theo Capaldo, Teresa, Angela, Javier, and Annie for your encouragement, support and love.

A very special thanks to our amazing welder Daniel Martin, his assistant Johnny and Mr. Martin Senior as well as one other unnamed fellow who spent evenings working for the chimps even after long days of work on movie sets (their day job). We have some of the best new structures for the chimps because of Daniel and his team. He is the greatest guy; we love him.

Creative and Corporate Gifts

Discover Magazine came out on the stands across North America in May with a feature story by Joe D'Agnese called An Embarrassment of Chimpanzees. Joe was visiting with us during the most difficult weekend (up to that time) that we had ever experienced since the arrival of the chimpanzees. It was the weekend dear Pablo died and by retelling the story of what he saw and experienced, Joe brought our family to the attention of a whole new group of people and for that and more, we are eternally grateful.

Last June, Frank Noelker, a wonderful photographer from Connecticut (who read Discover), came to see us. Frank had just finished Captive Beauty, a poignant book of photography taken of animals in zoos around the world with a foreword by Dr. Jane GoodalI. He came to meet us all and to take some photos of the chimps. The resulting portraits capture each individual as he or she looks directly at the camera. We thank Frank for his unbelievably big heart. He has given Fauna the right to use these amazing photographs in any that would benefit the chimps, in fact, all the animals at Fauna, and we already have some very exciting plans on how to do that. (Please see the boxed item SACRIFICED LIVES.) Frank and his photographs have opened a whole world of possibilities for Fauna and we are deeply indebted to him for his generosity, his sensitivity and his huge talent.

Adam Nichols was another creative artist inspired by the Discover article. A water colorist and author of five books of fantasy fiction, Adam came to visit and brought with him the most amazing painting of Billy, reproduced from the photo that was featured with the article. This is such a beautiful painting, and a very special gift from a wonderful new friend who has plans to help the chimps in the future.

Thank you to artist Alan Li who so thoughtfully sent me a beautiful Mother's Day surprise - an absolutely breathtaking sketch of our beautiful Annie. Thank you so much Alan for keeping Annie with us in this very special way.

We had a lovely visit from Arlene Brahm who has produced a very moving and informative video called "A Day in the Life of the Fauna Chimps" that we know is going to be an invaluable educational tool. Thank you, Arlene, for all your creativity, enthusiasm and hard work.

Huge thanks goes to VIA Rail Canada and the good people there for their invaluable support of Fauna's outreach program. Through their help and understanding, we are now able to reach beyond Montreal to bring our presentations to groups and schools ranging from Quebec City all the way to the Niagara region.

When our LitePro projector broke down just before a big presentation in Quebec City, we took it in to see if it could be repaired. Thanks to the kindness of Quebec Regional Sales Manager Sylvain Tessier we received a donation of a lovely Proxima LS-1 projector, courtesy of DUOCOM Canada. Also thanks to Sylvain for the training session, making certain that we were equipped in time for the presentation.

Once again we must thank John Hopkins from the Montreal health food store, À Votre Santé. John continues to find new people who donate great food to the chimps. Amongst such persons is a wonderful lady named Joanne Hollander, the creator of an amazing product called Soyummie, a soy mousse that comes in four flavors and she has been very generous in her donation. Best of all, the chimps absolutely love it! We are so grateful to both John and Joanne.

We send a big thank you to Connie and Nadine Shelestowsky for their dedication and to Rubbermaid for their generosity in outfitting us with their wonderful products that help make life in the chimphouse a lot more orderly.

Summer Visits

This past summer brought some very special people to Fauna who came to learn about what we are doing and to share their experiences and information. Thanks to Wim de Kok and David Van Gennep from AAP in The Netherlands for visiting and telling us all about Primadomus, AAP's new lifetime care centre for primates in Spain.

Other visitors this summer who have helped raise awareness or lend a hand with chimp enrichment included Kim Meehan and friends from the Toronto Zoo; Carol Deckert and husband Art of PAAC (Parkside Against Animal Cruelty); Pat Smith from Saskatchewan; teachers extraordinaire Linda Somers and Donna Slemko from Calgary; and Lorraine McNeill who has helped raise awareness and funds and to her husband, Charles and son, Callum.

Amazing Fauna Volunteers

First, my boundless thanks to the heart of Fauna, my sister and brother-in-law Dawna and Tony Smith. We couldn't do it without you. You are a blessing to us all.
I want to thank…
…the folks in the office who keep things on track: Gina Roitman, Rachelle Hansen, Geneviève Côté, and Claudine Beauchemin;
…the special folks who help us each weekend on the farm: Vera Burt, Edwina Mattison, Linda Quinn, Kevin O'Farrell, Nancy Davis, Eric Leclerc, Phil Vinois, Nicole Sylvester, Kim Belley, Julie-Eve O'Meara and Christina Conroy.
…our Annie Guilbault for her photos and translations - what a wonderful woman - and Nathalie Julien for helping Annie make such a success of our French newsletter and French website. You're an incredible team…
…and all of our regulars who have been helping us for the past four years like Maureen Adams, Roslyn O'Reilly, Kathleen Proulx, Lindsay Nathaniel and Jesse Lehrman. We would also like to thank the new volunteers who joined us this summer: Mike Bissonnette and Laura Girolami, Brad Jones, Mike Poullas, Melodie Doucet, Claire Deschenes, Marie-Josée Lamontagne. Also Jennifer Arnold and Doug Henry for their yummy cooking and T-touch massages!

We must never forget to thank the people who get us through each week…the volunteers who have been with us so long. In the chimphouse, there is Arryn Ketter, Karen Colwell, Janet Lalumiere, Lyne Charron, Diane McKellar, Joanne Valliere, and my family - my sister, Dawna, my mom, Agnes, nieces Morgan, Lauren, Maggie and nephew, Ryerson.

Special thanks to our great employees…Pat Ring who has been with us 11 years, and to Diana Goodrich and John Mulcahy. And to Lisa who feeds our fantastic volunteers and to my sister Linda Grow Woodfine who helps me get through each and every day at home. Fauna wouldn't be Fauna without all of you. We couldn't do it alone, don't want to do it alone and will always need your help. Thank you and all my love to each and every one of you.

A very big hug and thank you must be sent to our special volunteer, David Kenyon in Toronto who, without a doubt, has done us one of the greatest services helping us spread the word about our chimpanzee family. David is the creator of the Adopt-A-Chimp program. With so many of you out there participating in this program, it has been a huge success. David worked so hard, for so long, and as a result, has given the chimps such a beautiful gift. It warms our hearts to see how many wonderful people are helping the chimps in this way. Big hugs to you, David, and my deep gratitude to all of you who have adopted. We are so very grateful for your support.

Special thanks to Lorna Moroz, employee and volunteer, for all the extra things you do for Fauna and keeping our web page dynamic and interesting.

To all the folks who helped us get the extension finished and ready for the unrealistic deadline I laid on everyone, and especially to my amazing friend and volunteer, Darlene McQuattie, who owns Splash Décor, a painting company. Without her help and dedication to the chimps, we could never have finished. She literally spent day and night, seven days a week here - alone or with help - to get the long and tedious job of painting the chimphouse done. Thank you to Karen Chopko for her patience and for sending us food to keep us going. The other folks who were so much help were my sister, Dawna who is there for the chimps - always; then to Pat and Jeffrey for renovating the rooms and putting up with me…and my ranting. To Zarine for her great artwork on the extension walls, to John, Diana, Morgan, Lauren, Maggie, Arryn, Lynn, Gina, Agnes, Ryerson, John Beaton, and Linda for helping get the job done.

Our gratitude to Clint and Kate Field for the very special gift of their time, their energy, their commitment, their enthusiasm and their friendship. We'll never, ever forget you. Thank you for making Francis's last days so much better and for helping us give Toby a new life!

A special thanks to a great new friend of the chimps, to our volunteers, to all of us at Fauna - Rachelle Hansen. Rachelle has taken a huge step by leaving her job and her home in Toronto and moving to Montreal just so she can be here with us. Rachelle has been volunteering for the past few months, looking after anything and everything. She is truly amazing and she will be working for us and continuing to volunteer for us while writing children's books about the chimps in her spare time. We are so lucky Rachelle found us.

This summer, we have been blessed with a wonderful new group of volunteers who have made spending time at Fauna a regular part of their week.. They have cleaned out the barn, painted fences, shared their time, their love, and their caring with all of us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to the Dream Team: Sari Tuominiemi, Kim Belley, Dale Henshaw, Rachelle Hansen, Tamara Davy and Wendy Allain. I couldn't have done it without you wonderful ladies. Thanks also to Chet Susslin who spent his summer working on everything from painting the pig barn to shaving Jake the Sheep.

We received a phone call from an Edmonton teacher last winter. Nancy Cunningham had seen the "Sanctuary" documentary on Discovery and said she would like to do something to help so we told her we could sure use a teachers' manual for elementary school children. In September, after just a brief conversation about what we thought was needed and clearly after many hours of research and thought, the amazing Nancy and her friend Catherine Gutwin sent us Chimps in Entertainment, an incredible and totally comprehensive teaching tool with wonderful exercises, website addresses, just everything we could have hoped for. We thank them for the enormous energy they have put into this invaluable resource for Fauna's Outreach programs. It makes a perfect partner to the two kiosks built by two groups of design students from Montreal's Concordia University and to be used at school presentations and other public events. Thank you to all the Concordia students who participated and to architect Howard Davies, their course instructor, for all his support and friendship.

Having Amanda Bradley at Fauna this summer was just so wonderful. We thank her for her love, her compassion and her commitment. She is wonderful.

A very special friend of Fauna, "Taylor" from Toronto who has worked so hard to make things right, brought someone very special to us this summer. Taunya Ahier was unbelievable. We all think the world of her and respect all that she does for animals everywhere. Thank you so much, Tanya!

Thanks again to our friend Ann Gardon for helping design another amazing perennial garden, and thanks to Gina Roitman for putting it all in the ground with the help of Clint and Kate Field, Morgan, Lauren, Ryerson Woodfine, Maggie Smith, Alex Lessard, Pat Ring, and Lee Ann.

The chimps have some very special friends who are always thinking about them and sending special birthday gifts and Valentines presents, and so much more. Some of these friends you've heard of before and hopefully, they will always be there for the chimps:
Granny Glenys Bainbridge; Patricia Boyle, Marina Dibb; Susan and Jim Mills, the Bunnykin folks; Louise Antononi; Joan Perrin, the wonderful quilt lady; Sandra and John Birnbaum, and their daughter Jennie who raised both awareness and money at Havergal School; Colleen Carter and the students of Richelieu Valley High; Evelyn Z. Califano, Lina Vaccaro, Nicole Lortie and the students at Mother Teresa School in Russell, ON. The students of Heritage Glen School for their drawings, fundraising and making a "Change for Chimps". There are just so many more great folks who sent the chimps special gifts. We so appreciate your love and your friendship.

Many thanks to Shirley Desrosier for doing a fundraiser (all on her own!), raising some money for Fauna and spreading the word at McGill-Macdonald campus. And to Itai Roffman of Israel for his beautiful drawings, for bringing the word about Fauna far away and raising money through Roots and Shoots for chimps at a safari park in Israel.

We often receive calls about animals in distress and rely on our network of friends to help us out so we are sending out a very special thank you to Vicki Lightfoot, Animal Outreach, and Cedar Row Sanctuary for rescuing two poor pigs after we received a call from a concerned student.

If we've left out your name, please, please forgive us. We appreciate every one of you.

And to end this long and wonderful thank you list, I must make send out the biggest thanks to all of you who support the chimps, care for them and help them in so many ways. You are our source of energy, and you motivate us, give us the strength we need to do our work.

We appreciate you, respect you and need you. We couldn't do it without your support.