Earlier this week we shared some of the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of our resident chimpanzees during the CoVID-19 pandemic. Many of you asked for more detail.
The truth is, we are scared. 17% of our residents are elderly. More than half are middle-aged or older. Many have immuno-compromising complications that make them especially vulnerable.
That’s why we started our preparations over a month ago. We are now in Level Two of a three level plan. That means that we’ve cut down to a skeleton staff — roughly the staff we would use in case of a hurricane. The only difference is that our staff aren’t housed on site as they would during a storm, they are allowed to go home after their shift, as long as they change out of their footwear. It means long, hot, hard shifts of cleaning and feeding and checking locks. Our carestaff has never been more important or more critical than at this time.
This will be a long journey for all of us, but especially for those front line workers who are considered essential. And our care staff are essential, they keep our amazing 232 resident chimpanzees fed and clean and happy and entertained. And most importantly, safe.
There’s never been a more critical time to support Save the Chimps and our frontline care staff. We hope you will consider participating in this year’s board match.
- $15 will be doubled to be worth $30
- $30 will be doubled to be worth $60
- If you can donate an extra generous $100 it will be matched and doubled to $200
- Any amount you give today can be doubled, for twice the support at a critical time.
- And, if you can’t give now, we understand, it’s a difficult time for so many, but you can still participate by signing a pledge for World Chimpanzee Day (we won’t collect any gift information until July 14th
Help us continue to protect our resident chimpanzees by giving today. Only gifts and pledges made by May 15th will be matched, you can make a real difference in the lives of our residents, won’t you please give now?