A very warm thank you to Christine Bowers, Don Roberts, Michelle Palmer, Tiffany Newcomer, & Mona Bowers for all their hard work on their Monkey Business party. Together they worked with local businesses, media, neighbors, friends, and family to raise $1,500 for Joey and his friends at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary.
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Why the interest in Joey?
Joey is a 13-year-old black crested macaque and arrived at our Sanctuary after his “owner,” Christine Bowers, came to the very difficult but correct decision of letting him go. Today Joey lives with a group of five other monkeys, all playing and grooming each other daily. Joey, along with more than 500 primates, requires a lot of food. In fact, it costs more than $100,000 a year just to feed these hungry monkeys.
Ms. Bowers, knowing firsthand how much work goes into carrying for these magnificent primates, offered to host a garage sale to raise $1,000 for Joey and his friends.
The Monkey Madness Moving Sale was held at her residence. She worked with a local business to create a large enough sign to be seen by drivers on the main road. They all worked long hard hours bringing furniture, toys, and other goods to the property. They also decorated the trees along their exceptionally long drive way with fake monkeys to attract a bigger crowd.
Being a business owner herself, Ms. Bowers knew how to get in touch with local media to promote her event. An ad was posted in her local newspaper and announced on the morning radio show in her town.
The event lasted from Friday, July 31st through Sunday, August 2nd, and operated at all hours of the day and night. She laughed as she told me one of her sales took place at 4:00am. That’s dedication! When I thanked her over the phone, she said, “I couldn’t have done it without my boyfriend, daughters, and my mother …”
I’m truly inspired by this group. Thank you!
Feeling inspired?
Make your next event (birthday, anniversary, yard sale, etc.) one that helps the monkeys too! Visit www.bornfreeusa.org/party for more details.
For the monkeys,
Diana