With Guide Mimi Ackerman, Tours are Special
By Luke Shannon
Tours are special here at Project Chimps. The children are encouraged to put their palms on the plexiglass and ‘hold hands’ with a chimpanzee.
Mimi Ackerman has been volunteering at Project Chimps for two years, and it is moments like this where her experience really shines. She encourages even the apprehensive infant to reach out his arm toward the latest chimp to have wandered over to view her group during a tour.
Mimi’s Background
Mimi grew up in Wilmington, Delaware and has lived “up and down the east coast.” She said she has always been an animal lover and respects their lives and habitats. When she retired in 2020, she googled ‘volunteer with animals.’ This is how she found out about Project Chimps.
Mimi had never worked with primates before joining Project Chimps. However, she used to rescue Golden Retrievers and train them to be pet therapy dogs.
Tours are Special
The tour group seemed to come away impressed.
“We’ve been to other animal sanctuaries like this one, and we understand that you don’t always get to see the animals,” one of the group members said afterward. “So, that made it even more special when we knew the chimpanzees were choosing to come up to and interact with us.”
How Mimi Helps
Her knowledge of Project Chimps and all its residents makes her an obvious choice to lead tours like this one. However, Mimi does ‘a little bit of everything’ around campus.
She assists with meal preparation in the kitchen and helps animal caregivers in the villas. Her volunteering in these areas has only strengthened her abilities as a tour guide. Today, it allows her to answer questions about the chimps, villas and wildlife in general.
Getting Started
She volunteered for one day almost two years ago before leaving for Ireland on vacation. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic struck while she was overseas. But, thanks to her having already started volunteering at Project Chimps, she was able to keep going throughout the pandemic.
“I knew it would be safe here during the worst of COVID because of all the precautions I knew were being taken already,” Mimi said. “That helped me feel safe in spending time volunteering at Project Chimps.”
During a time when so many people in the world were looking for ways to get out of the house and stay busy, Mimi accomplished exactly that by getting increasingly involved with the non-profit. She started in the kitchen, like most volunteers. Eventually, she earned the yellow shirt, which signifies 100 hours committed to Project Chimps.
Volunteer Community
She is now able to answer any question about it thrown at her, even by this curious group of 17 individuals.
But perhaps the most important question was saved for last in her tour Thursday morning, one Mimi was sure to know all about, and was certain to have inspired herself with the knowledge and passion she had displayed.
“How do I become a volunteer?”
Mimi is not in every day, but her volunteering makes a difference in the lives of 81 chimps every time she comes 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.
