|
Upcoming Events
|
CA Celebration
Saturday, Oct. 2nd
Boston Festivale
Saturday, Nov. 6th
|
Facebook!
|
|
Find us on Facebook!
|
|
Join Our List
|
|
Contact Us
|
|
Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, Inc.
541 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA 02134
617.787.4419
www.monkeyhelpers.org
|
|
|
Hi ,
 Hello from the staff and monkeys at Helping Hands! We've had a busy end to our summer as we begin to look forward to all of the upcoming events we have this Fall. Be sure to check the sidebar for more information. We wanted to follow up our last e-newsletter article describing the placement week with an example of a current active placement. Check out Behind the Scenes to learn more about Kevin and Allie. Don't worry- we didn't forget the monkeys either. Meet Linus in the article below. We hope your summer has been fun and relaxing! ~ Noelle, the staff and monkeys at Helping Hands ~
|
Behind the Scenes: Active Placements
|
| An inside look at our rewarding work!
Last month we told you how the placement week typically works, now it's time to focus on what's most import: supporting our current monkey helper and recipient pairs! Below is an example of one of our active placements. There are currently 45 pairs across the US.
Kevin & Allie, MA:
 In September of 2008, a 24 year old man accompanied by his family, made a visit to Helping Hands for an open house. Quiet, yet charming, Kevin made a lasting impression on the Helping Hands staff.
Kevin's accident occurred in the summer of 2007 when he broke his neck in a diving accident. Kevin has always loved animals. when he was younger, he begged his parents for a pet monkey."It's quite ironic that now, as a result of my accident, which I never wanted to happen, I have the  chance to have a monkey, something I always wanted." Kevin met his match, Allie, in February of 2009. Allie is a sweet, loving girl- as you can see in a picture of her cuddling with her best friend when she was at Monkey College! Kevin proved to have great monkey "intuition", and the two have formed a lasting bond.
Kevin recently told us of Allie, "Now that she is part of the family it would be hard to imagine her not here. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all who donate, whether time or money, without you I would not have this opportunity of companionship on my life."
A big thank you to all of our wonderful donors who make partnerships such as this happen! To give a donation to support an upcoming new placement please click here.
|
Monkey Helper News
|
| Meet Our Monkeys: Linus  Linus is one of our quirkiest boys here at Monkey College! He loves to say hello to all of his friends when he goes on walks throughout our facility with his trainer, Alison. As you can tell by his picture he loves to be wrapped up and snuggled in her arms!
Linus has only recently begun training, and is now learning to discriminate one object from a variety of different ones. Alison teaches him this by shining a laser pointer at an item out of a group, and rewarding him when he chooses the correct one. This will be especially helpful in a home when a recipient asks Linus to select a specific DVD or CD from a collection.
We know that Linus is going to be a wonderful addition to a recipient's life one day! Click here if you would like to make a donation to support a monkey like Linus at Monkey College.
|
|
Volunteer Spotlight
|
|
Sam Hartley
Why did you choose Helping Hands?
The way I heard about Helping Hands is that at my school we had to do a project to help a philanthropic organization. One day we had some of the teachers share why they chose their specific organization to support. As I listened to the teachers, I heard one of them talk about Helping Hands. It sounded great, so I chose it. The best part is that no one else in my grade picked it!
Have you always been interested in the human-animal bond?
Yes, I have always been interested in the human-animal bond. The way I find it fascinating is how the animal can trust and love humans. Another way is how the they can communicate with each other without talking, but by their senses. The way I can say these things are true is because I have a dog named Ben who is a 5 year old Labradoodle (Poodle mixed with Lab). We love to sit in the grass and play with tennis balls.
How did you decide to help?
The way I contributed to Helping Hands is that I ran a 15km marathon which is 9.3 miles. Before the race I went around to neighbors' houses and asked them to please help me by pledging money for every mile I run. After the big race I made $250 and took home a medal for third place in the 18 and under age group. Another way I helped is that I built a tri-fold poster board of what Helping Hands does and showed it to kids and parents at the end of the school year when we presented them.
Why is volunteering important to you?
I think that volunteering is important to me because it shows how you should not care about getting a reward like money or toys. It shows that you should consider others before yourself. The most important part if that you should feel good about yourself and what you can accomplish with a little hard work and effort.
Thanks for all of your hard work, Sam!
|
About Us
|
|
Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, is a national 501 (c) 3 organization and member of Independent Charities of America. We place specially trained capuchin monkeys with individuals living with severe mobility impairments. Relying on private contributions, Helping Hands provides our service animals and their lifetime support free of charge.
| |
|
|
|
