Ty Monji's Hummingbird Habitat Memorial

My mother, Tynie Hisae Monji,  died the weekend (Saturday, 29 May 2021) of cancer before the new hummingbird habitat opened at the San Diego Zoo. When we were kids, we often went to the San Diego Zoo where we learned about animals from foreign countries, but we always stopped to observed the hummingbirds and my mother always welcomed native hummingbirds into her own garden.
My mother and her family had some bitter times in Chula Vista. They were tomato farmers, but in 1942, they were forced to leave their farm behind, first to be interned at Santa Anita (Racetrack) Assembly Center and then sent on to Poston internment camp in Arizona. When they finally returned, they found their storage had been looted of their lacquerware heirlooms.

Still, my mother was a positive person. She married in 1957, only to be widowed after my father died due to complications of multiple sclerosis in 1974 with three children to raise (Karin, Alan and myself). She worked at Chula Vista High School for 14 years. In retirement, she gardened and painted. 

We're sorry that due to COVID-19, my mother wasn't able to visit the zoo during the last year of her life and she was doubtlessly looking forward to seeing the new hummingbird habitat. My siblings want to raise funds to have my mother's name on the hummingbird habitat's donor list so we need at least $1200. We've already asked people to donate via the San Diego Wildlife Alliance's Memorial page, but the zoo isn't able to provide daily updates, so I'm trying to raise funds here to see what we can raise in two months times. 

You can donate directly by mail or online (San Diego Zoo Memorial  donation link), earmarking the donation for Ty Monji or Tynie Hisae Monji. 

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Hummingbird Habitat
In Memory of Tynie Hisae Monji
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
P.O. Box 120551
San Diego, CA 92112