YOU, ME & CHIMPS: Let’s get the orphaned babies back to the forest
OUR CROWDFUNDING INTENTION:
Our family, Anja, Berni, May and Sam Gilmartin, are raising money to help support the ongoing building and operational costs at a new sanctuary for LIBERIA CHIMPANZEE RESCUE AND PROTECTION.
We will be running a six-week crowdfunding project called YOU, ME, AND CHIMPS that will begins on Tuesday, September 8th, 2020.
We are an active outdoor, nature-loving family based in Cumbria, UK who are trying to do our bit to help chimpanzees, our closest relatives, by raising awareness about the plight of orphaned young chimps in Liberia and helping to raise funds for their new sanctuary. We want to help the co-founders of Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection, Jenny and Jimmy Desmond, and all the orphaned chimpanzees in their care.
L to R: Jimmy holding Lucy, Jenny holding Rudy Image Courtesy of LCRP
IMPORTANT NOTE: * ** Chimpanzees are not and should not be pets or forced to live with humans.** * The chimpanzee orphans at LCRP's sanctuary in West Africa are victims of the bushmeat and illegal pet trade. Their mothers were tragically killed by poachers and require around the clock care. Thanks to the dedicated caregivers and staff, the orphans are being rehabilitated so that they will be able to thrive with others in a natural and safe environment when they’re older. Please support LCRP’s efforts to rescue chimpanzees in need to keep wild chimps wild.
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Our crowdfunding project is happening at a crucial time on our planet when so many of us are concerned about the welfare of wildlife, as well as our own children’s well-being.
Just like our children, chimpanzees need love, care, affection, a sense of freedom, and connection with the natural world. As you follow Jimmy and Jenny’s story and watch our Chimp Tuesday sessions you may might see some of the amazing parallels we share with these magical creatures.
YOUR DONATION WILL HELP TO BUILD THE NEW LCRP SANCTUARY, THE FOREVER HOME TO ALL LCRP ORPHANED BABIES.
100% of the crowdfunding money raised will be going to Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection.
A MESSAGE FROM MAY GILMARTIN
“Hi, my name is May, I am 7 years old and I live in Cumbria in England. I want to raise money for baby chimps.
My love for chimps all started when my auntie recommended a BBC programme called Baby Chimp Rescue. I fell in love with the chimps. Chimpanzees are one of my favourite animals and I want to help them get back to the forest, where they belong.
Chimpanzees need our help. If we don’t do something chimps might become extinct. We really need to stop hurting them. Harming a chimp is like harming a human.
In some ways chimps are cleverer than us. They look after their home and they look after each other and so we can learn so much from them.
I have started helping by sponsoring a chimp called Ella who lives in Liberia at the sanctuary. I am so happy that I am helping an animal I really love! In fact, I love all animals! I rescue ex-battery chickens too!”
KIDS CORNER
CHIMP TUESDAYS
Every Tuesday during the six-week project we will be offering young children online pre-recorded short video sessions that include various chimp themed games, activities, and educational material so the children can learn about wild and captive chimpanzees, while learning something new about themselves!
CHIMP TUESDAYS will feature May and her family in 15 minute collaborative videos that include:
- Learning about how similar chimps are to us. (We share 98% identical DNA!)
- Chimp Facts of the week
- May’s Chimp of the week
- Chimp Chat: Learning about chimp calls, handshakes, playing, etc.
- Chimp Activity of the Week: Including nest building, tool use, foraging, drawing and making poems about chimps and making a chimps tea; all fun activities you can try for yourself at home
- Story/reading time
- There will also be the chance to share your creative ideas in a chimpanzee themed poetry competition. 'Regatta Great Outdoors' will be donating a voucher as a prize for the poem that touches our hearts the most.
Additionally, there will be six Chimp Tuesday Facebook Live interviews conducted by Debra Rosenman, award-winning author of THE CHIMPANZEE CHRONICLES. You can watch the interviews live on Debra’s FB page www.facebook.com/debra.rosenman.5/ where she will be speaking with May and her family, Jenny and Jimmy Desmond, and other esteemed guests that are connected to and support Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection.
The first Facebook live interview begins Tuesday, September 8 at
11:30 am US Mountain Time
5:30 Liberia Time
6:30 UK Time
If you're not able to watch the live interview, it will be up on facebook so tune in whenever you can!
Watch our first Chimp Tuesdays session online, starting on Tuesday September 8th at 10:00am UK time or you can catch up and view any time afterwards. Follow at www.facebook.com/chimptuesdays
WE NEED YOUR HELP to get the baby chimps to the forest!
100% of the crowdfunding money raised will be going to Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection.
PLEASE DONATE
Gloria Image Courtesy of LCRP
A BIT ABOUT LIBERIA CHIMPANZEE RESCUE AND PROTECTION
Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection (LCRP) is the first and only chimpanzee sanctuary and conservation centre in Liberia rescuing chimpanzees who are victims of the illegal bushmeat and pet trades.
More than 60 orphaned chimpanzees, nearly all under the age of five, are currently under the care of LCRP. When chimpanzees are killed as part of the bushmeat trade, the babies are physically torn from their mothers’ arms. They are sold illegally as pets, often kept in substandard conditions and suffering dreadfully for many years.
All the orphans arriving at LCRP have been severely neglected and traumatized, as victims of both physical and emotional abuse.
Chimpanzee mothers supply around the clock care for their young, and their babies cling to them 100% of the time during their formative years. So, caring for such young chimpanzees is a massively challenging undertaking. Jenny, Jimmy, and their dedicated staff of caregivers work around the clock to care for them.
The setting at LCRP is rather cramped now, as orphans continue to arrive weekly. It’s incredibly important to get the babies into a larger and more suitable sanctuary setting in the forest.
THE SANCTUARY
In December 2017, LCRP purchased a 25-year lease on 100 acres of forested land from the local community. This was a huge step forward for the establishment of the sanctuary, a real place to call home—The One Hundred Acre Wood.
The sanctuary land is set in the Marshall Wetlands, an important estuarine habitat with vast mangrove forests and unique biodiversity. The area is a proposed protected area, which means long term security, community partnerships, and ecotourism opportunities.
LCRP is very excited to relocate the chimps to this beautiful natural environment, but they must raise enough money to build proper facilities, ensuring happy and healthy chimpanzees and a great working environment for the team.
The One Hundred Acre Wood will be the chimps forever home.
You can help make this possible with your donation! Thank you!
ADDITIONAL GIFT TO THE LCRP:
Anja will be working on a year long project for Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection called THE 100 ACRE WOOD TALE TRAIL, a story map of the new sanctuary we are raising money for. The map will help educate young children about the journey orphaned chimps go on after being taken away from their mothers to living in a wonderful sanctuary connected to the forest! The 100 Acre Wood Tale Trail will be a virtual map of the sanctuary with colourful characters and the supporting story of their experience.
The production of the story map will be Anja’s gift to the chimps! The 100 Acre Wood Tale Trail will be available to download on the LCRP website, along with a small suggested donation to LCRP.
THE 100 ACRE WOOD TALE TRAIL is due to be released on July 14th 2021, World Chimpanzee Day. After this crowdfunder has finished you can keep up to date on the Tale Trail here... www.facebook.com/taletrailswalks
HELP SUPPORT THE SANCTUARY! PLEASE DONATE WHAT YOU CAN NOW
To find out more about the amazing work of Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection click here: www.liberiachimpanzeerescue.org
If you are in the UK, you can watch a documentary following some of their orphaned babies here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000dl8n/baby-chimp-rescue-series-1-3-a-new-beginning
Watch our first Chimp Tuesdays session online, starting on Tuesday September 8th at 10:00am UK time or you can catch up and view any time afterwards. Follow at www.facebook.com/chimptuesdays
THANK YOU,
Anja, Berni, May and Sam xxx