Local Volunteers Keep Chimp Sanctuary in the Swing

MORGANTON, GA, April 6, 2019 – Harriet Gallu was named Volunteer of the Year today by Project Chimps, a 236-acre sanctuary for former research chimpanzees, located in Morganton. The Morganton, Georgia, resident also received the sanctuary’s “Ape of All Trades” award for the diversity of volunteer duties she performs to benefit the chimps.

An “ape” of all trades

“Harriet brings so many different skills to the sanctuary, as do many of our talented, local volunteers,” said Kathryn Durham, Project Chimps’ volunteer coordinator. “She uses her professional background in corporate market research to help us communicate with new audiences, assists our Science Committee with complex data analysis, and roles up her sleeves in the kitchen smearing peanut butter on pinecones to feed and engage the chimps.”

Volunteers honored at picnic lunch with free family tours

Gallu was among ten volunteers honored at a luncheon ceremony on sanctuary grounds Saturday. Other local award winners included:

• Dawn DiLorenzo, Morganton, GA – Guiding Star Award for leading events and tours and Down and Dirty Award for assisting the Project Chimps chimpanzee care team clean and care for the 59 former research chimpanzees now in residence;
• Mark Ranstadler, Mineral Bluff, GA – Above and Beyond Award for helping to transport new chimpanzees from a lab in Louisiana to their forever home at Project Chimps;
• Gail Dufresne, Mineral Bluff, GA – Sunshine Award for bringing a positive attitude to even the most challenging and mundane volunteer tasks;
• Alice Bergman, Blairsville, GA – Monkey Wrench Award for supporting the Project Chimps Facilities Team with landscaping and other maintenance projects;
• Marian Jones, Marble, NC – Chimp Chef Award for preparing chimpanzee meals and enrichment in the Project Chimps kitchen;
• Sharon Jo Miller – Ellijay, GA – Potent Planner Award for committee service and most overall volunteer hours in 2018 of 330!
• Don Reynolds, Pattie Reynolds and Joan Miller, Murphy NC – Rising Star Awards for outstanding service as new Project Chimps volunteers.

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More than 7,300 hours donated in 2018

According to Durham, local volunteers donated more than 7,300 hours to the sanctuary in support of the chimps in 2018, a more than 400% increase over 2017. Today, more than 180 people have signed up to help former research chimpanzees like 220-pound Kareem, the “gentle giant,” who spent three decades in medical research, including some of the nation’s most notorious and cruel testing facilities, before permanently retiring to Project Chimps.

Yellow shirt volunteers assist chimpanzee caregivers, see chimpanzees up close

As a wildlife sanctuary, Project Chimps has a rigorous volunteer screening, training and tiered advancement process. Volunteers are required to commit to a regular schedule of four-hour shifts at least twice per month. Project Chimps promoted 14 volunteers from Level 1 to Level 2 in recognition of their completion of at least 100 hours of sanctuary service and required training. Level 2 volunteers are allowed to assist chimpanzee caregivers and work in closer proximity to the chimpanzees, though human-chimpanzee contact is not permitted.

Volunteers honored for their promotion to Level 2 in 2018 included:

• Sally Masters of Blue Ridge, GA;
• Nancy Page and Jill Nielson of Morganton, GA;
• Cathy Ferguson, Mary Green, Candy Retter and Betty Fuller of Blairsville, GA;
• David and Jane Nefores, Don and Pattie Reynolds, and Joan Miller of Murphy, NC;
• Becky Oviedo of Talking Rock, GA; and,
• Karen Reilly of Ormond Beach, FL.

Volunteer opportunities

Project Chimps volunteers must be at least 18 years of age, though community service project volunteers may be younger. No contact is allowed with the chimpanzees and only specially-trained caregiver volunteers work in or around the chimpanzee villas or residences. The first step to become a volunteer is to complete an online application at projectchimps.org/volunteer/, though they can also be mailed, and attend one of the non-profit’s quarterly volunteer orientation sessions in Blue Ridge. The next orientation session is slated for May 11, 2019, and you must be pre-registered to attend.

Many ways to volunteer

Project Chimps also offers corporate and group service volunteer opportunities. The sanctuary welcomes groups throughout the year for various projects including facility maintenance, gardening, chimpanzee enrichment, and special events. Groups may be between five and 40 individuals committing to a four-hour volunteer service activity.

Opportunities to visit

Project Chimps is a sanctuary and therefore not open to the public except for limited engagements which sell out months in advance. The next opportunity for members of the public to visit the sanctuary will be April 26 and 27, when Project Chimps hosts its first family-oriented “Chimps Rock!” event, including decorative rock painting and ticketed tours of the sanctuary. Tickets are already sold out for the sanctuary’s May Discovery Days and only a few tickets remain for their September Discovery Days. More information is available at projectchimps.org.

Project Chimps is the newest chimpanzee sanctuary in the United States and was founded specifically to provide lifetime care to former research chimpanzees at its sanctuary on 236 acres of forested land in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Project Chimps is an accredited charity by the Better Business Bureau and has achieved Guidestar Platinum status; additionally accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) and a member of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA).