Something for Everyone

“I feel a real connection to animals, and they seem to sense that. One day a small deer followed me around our property walking with me up from the pasture to the house.”

Jan Russell

By Luke Shannon

Here at Project Chimps, there is something for everyone who wants to get involved.

Nobody knows this better than Jan Russell, 72, who has always wanted to help animals and found an opportunity here.

A Love for Animals

Jan has known she wanted to help animals find their homes since growing up in Minnesota. Her hero was Jane Goodall, and she has worked as a pet-sitter for 10 years. She proudly cares for a Brussels-Griffon rescue dog, three feral cats, and a collection of wild animals on her 15 acre farm of her own.

“When we moved here, I knew I wanted to volunteer with animals,” Jan said. “My husband was relieved when I told him it would be here because of all the dogs and cats I would have brought home if not.”

When Jan and her husband moved to Georgia, she was looking for a pasture with a view of the mountains and the acreage to adopt rescue donkeys and goats. She said that the pasture is ready if she ever gets that opportunity!

Jan’s Background

Jan graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Wimbledon College of Arts with a degree in graphic design. She used that to start a career in print production and worked on photography for products in incentive catalogs.

Jan then married and moved from Minnesota to North Carolina. At Duke, she managed a psychiatric clinic for 5 years. In a clinic with 5 psychiatrists, she was the only ‘office person.’ Now, she says she is happy to be retired and spending time with Project Chimps.

Getting Involved

Jan knew that there was a sanctuary for great apes in the Blue Ridge Mountains- but just thought it was still Gorilla Haven, and not Project Chimps! That changed when she saw a sign downtown for a PC event. When she discovered Project Chimps and its mission, she said she was excited to volunteer.

“I knew for sure I wanted to volunteer but I just missed the orientation for first group. It was February 2018 before I was able to start,” Jan said.

Since starting then, Jan has contributed to Chimps in many ways.

Something for Everyone

Like most do when they start with Project Chimps, Jan began her volunteering in the kitchen, where food is prepared for all the chimps. However, the kitchen was not where Jan felt she could best be of assistance. Luckily, there is ‘something for everyone’ to contribute here.

She has helped with food donations and logged in donor gifts from the wishlist. Jan has also made chimp chili and worked the booth for a showing of a ‘Jane Goodall’ movie. Today, she mans the gift shop, tidying it up for anyone who may come in. She is happy to do anything she can to help the 81 chimps that are on campus and to bring others here, too.

“Although I don’t work directly with the chimps, every sale that is made here is another step to bringing another chimp to sanctuary,” Jan said.

Volunteer Perks

Although she does not work directly with the chimps, Jan said her experience of creating enrichment activities fulfilled both her and the chimps.

“I can hear [the chimps] hooting-I know they’re playing and socializing and living the best life they can… I could see how much they enjoyed the enrichment. They enrich us so much, too. There’s a feeling after volunteering of how much they’ve enriched you.”

Chimps even surprise Jan when she’s volunteering in the kitchen.

“I loved it- seeing their fingers then face pop up to the window was great,” she said

PC Community

Jan also was sure to mention how much she has appreciated the people she has had a chance to work with here.

“It’s gratifying to see how much people come together for the common goal of bringing chimps into a sanctuary and making their experience here the next best thing since they can’t go into the wild. It’s nice to see that one person can make such a difference. It gives you that feeling- in whatever small way I can make a difference, it adds up,” she said.

Jan is not in every day, but her volunteering makes a difference in the lives of 82 chimps every time they come in. You, too, can volunteer with Project Chimps, by submitting a volunteer application on the website, or by sending an email to volunteer@projectchimps.org.

There really is something for everyone.