The singer from an iconic ’80s rock group is sponsoring an Ontario donkey.
The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada in Puslinch posted a photo of Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go’s holding a picture of one of their donkeys at the sanctuary on X, formerly Twitter, Thursday.
The collaboration apparently began when Carlisle visited an art gallery to see paintings created by a monkey.
“Pockets Warhol is a painting monkey at Storybook Farm Primate Sanctuary (in Sunderland north of Whitby),” said Dale Gellatly, fund development and communication lead at the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada.
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“Charmaine Quinn, who works with Pockets, is also a volunteer at the Donkey Sanctuary. When she was collaborating with Belinda on a project she was doing, she told her about the Donkey Sanctuary and what we do. Belinda was delighted to learn about what we do and decided to sponsor one of our donkeys.”
The donkey that Carlisle sponsored is Duke, a special needs donkey at the sanctuary. Since posting the photo on social media, there have been a number of calls and emails made to the sanctuary asking about sponsorships.
“We posted things on social media with the lovely picture of Belinda holding a picture of Duke and giving it a kiss,” Gellatly said.
“We’ve had people come up and say, ‘I didn’t know you can sponsor a donkey’ and ‘How can I do that?”
The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada was created in 1992 by Puslinch resident Sandra Pady, who wanted a place where donkeys, mules and hinnies could live free from neglect and abuse.
Gellatly said she was excited to learn that Carlisle wanted to sponsor a donkey from the sanctuary.
“Anything that we can do that sort of helps people know what we do and how we do it is great,” Gellatly said.
“Having a celebrity who is interested in supporting that helps get that message out.”
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