Valentines, monkeys to make children happy

Monkey see, monkey do? Drive was a success

Stuffed simians fill J-Cuts, 505 Howe Ave., Shelton. / Contributed photo

The seventh annual Monkey Love Valentine Drive shaped up to be one of the most successful collections ever, organizers said in a release.

 

Over 1,500 stuffed monkeys were collected by various groups and companies in the area. 

Eileen Henri, a member of Keith Urban's online community, the "Ville," who resides in Derby, coordinated a collection again this year.  

Plush monkeys were sent from Australia, Canada, and Spain as well as from people in 32 states.

Urban's fans collected more than 1,160 monkeys. Their goal was to collect more than last year, which netted 719. 
With the generous support and kindness of Urban's fans, they went way beyond their goal and continued to make this drive a global effort.

 
Community shows it cares 
 
Jennifer Sneider, owner of J-Cuts, 505 Howe Ave., Shelton, said she was amazed at the outpouring of kindness from the community and the Keith Urban "Ville" fan club and Facebook fans.

"Especially with the way our economy has been lately," Sneider said, "I didn't expect to collect so many monkeys."  

Additional collection locations in Shelton included Huntington Family Dental Group, 534 Shelton Ave., Minuteman Press, 427 Howe Ave., Suite 2, and the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, 10 Progress Drive, second Floor.

The Shelton Lion’s Club held its own collection.  Because they will be putting together Easter food and candy baskets for less fortunate families in Shelton, the monkeys were donated right back to their organization to include in these baskets. 

Minuteman Press donated posters for the collection again this year. 

Haynes Group, Inc., headquartered in Seymour, held a collection toward the end of January. With locations in Seymour, Oxford, Naugatuck, Torrington, and Deep River, they quickly collected more than 100 monkeys. 

Ruth Rogers, owner of Topside Cafe, 333 Boston Post Road, Milford, along with Mary Finnegan and Lenny Marconi, held their third Annual Monkey Love Valentine Drive Jan. 27. They collected about 50 stuffed monkeys this year. 

They will hold a Monkey Love Sunday celebration each year on the Sunday before Superbowl. They said they hoped to have other area pubs in Milford and Shelton join in for this annual event to benefit children in need. 

This annual event benefits abused and neglected children, impoverished, adopted and sick children, and frightened children involved in police calls, as well as children who may feel a little left out when a younger sibling is born and children treated for cancer or other illnesses at local hospitals. 

Last year the Monkey Love Valentine Drive collected and distributed 907 stuffed monkeys to area organizations who serve children in need.  

The drive will benefit children serviced by the Ansonia, Milford, and Lower Naugatuck Valley (Shelton) Boys & Girls Clubs, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital in New Haven, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital at Bridgeport Hospital Campus, TEAM, Inc. in Derby and Ansonia, BHcare’s Center for Domestic Violence Services in Ansonia, the Seymour Police Department, Griffin Hospital, Derby and Sunnyside School, Shelton. 

Although a representative of the children who attended Sandy Hook Elementary School mentioned they could not accept donations because they still have a warehouse full, an extra 100 stuffed monkeys were given to Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital in honor of the children. 

In addition, 26 monkeys were wrapped and given out with a Valentine card as a surprise to various children in the Newtown area. 

“This is my third year doing it,” Sneider said. “We have so much fun. My customers get involved and my teen-aged daughter and her friends join in to help by decorating the barber shop in anticipation of a whole bunch of monkeys moving in for a little while,” she said. “It is an amazing feeling to know each and every one of these monkeys will find comfort in the arms of a child in need and the children will find comfort in these monkeys.” 

For information on participating next year, call J-Cuts, 203-924-4107.

The information in this post was taken from a press release.