|
Save the Date
| |
2011 Helping Hands Festivale  Saturday
September 24
6-9pm
WGBH Boston
VIP reception
beginning at 5pm
Premiere Pricing available through September 1st.
Visit our website to purchase tickets!
|
|
Jeep Rally
| | Visit JeepRally.org
to learn about this group who has decided to donate proceeds from their upcoming event to us!
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
Summer seems to be flying by here at the Monkey College. We have all been enjoying the warm weather and are busy with all of the day to day training activities. Our team has just returned from two new placements, one in California and one in Boston! We hosted a great Behind the Scenes Tour earlier this month and we look forward to welcoming guests to our upcoming national events, the 2011 Festivale in in Boston on September 24 and our California event in Los Angeles on October 15th.
It has also been a somber month at Helping Hands, Monkey Helpers as we mourn the passing of Hellion, the first monkey ever trained and placed though our program. Read more below as we remember and celebrate her life.
Sincerely,
Your friends at Helping Hands Monkey Helpers
|
Remembering Hellion
|
| |
Hellion
 It is with heavy hearts that we announce to friends and supporters of Helping Hands, Monkey Helpers the passing of the very first monkey-helper, Hellion. In 1979, Hellion was placed with Robert Foster and the pair was an inseparable team for 28 years until Robert's death in 2007. Hellion was a trailblazer who paved a path for many monkeys after her - she was incredibly bright, sometime mischievous, and always full of life.
Hellion's training during the 1970s assisted our program's founders in developing early training techniques, many of which are still used today to teach our animals living at the Monkey College. Hellion helped take the idea and vision of service monkeys - and made it a reality.
 Hellion and Robert were featured twice on CBS 60 Minutes and for many years they served as Helping Hands' most well known ambassadors. We will forever be grateful to them both for providing us with the foundation on which we have continued to build our organization.
Several friends and donors of Helping Hands have asked to make gifts in honor of Hellion's life and legacy. We have created "Hellion's Memorial" which will honor her memory by providing funds to care for the service monkeys in training and placement. If you are interested in making a gift in honor of Hellion, please click here.
|
Training Highlights
|
| |
Changing Technology, Changing Tasks
Looking back over the past 30 years, you realize how much has changed in our world due to technology. Not only does this affect the way we live, it also changes the way we teach our monkeys at Monkey College. While commands such as "fetch" and "flip" remain the same, the objects we use with them can be drastically different over time.
During her lifetime, Hellion learned to use many forms of changing technology, starting with the 8-track. Eventually the 8-track was replaced with cassettes, which were then replaced with CDs. The same is true of VCR tapes and DVDs - as the technology changes, so does the way our monkeys learn to interact with the items.
We cannot predict what the next big technological advance will be, but we do know that whatever it is, we are prepared to adapt our teaching for our monkeys!
|
Helping Hands Festivale
| | The Event Committee continues to be hard at work putting together the Annual Helping Hands Festivale fundraiser. We will once again be featuring food from some of Boston's best restaurants (including Mistral, Sorellina, Teatro, Moo...., and L'Andana), drinks for all, a variety of music, and most importantly fun!
Saturday, September 24th, 6-9pm
VIP reception 5-6pm WGBH Studios, Brighton, MA New this year - join us for our online auction beginning September 6th. Whether you live in Boston or Boise, Deluth or Denmark, it is a great way to get involved, support our program, and purchase some really great items! Keep an eye out for more information to follow! Watch your mailbox! Invitations will be mailed in August, but you can already purchase your tickets online. Purchase before September 1st to receive premiere pricing.
Never been to a Festivale? Want to know what it is like? See photos from last year's event here!
Live in the New England area? Not on our invitation mailing list? Join today!
Questions? Want to become involved? For more information, contact Erica Noyes at erican@monkeyhelpers.org. |
Helping Hands Team Spotlight
|
| In July, we were joined by two new staff members, Kelly Doherty, Occupational Therapist and Placement Specialist, and Erica Noyes, Development and Communication Associate. Next time you join us at an event, be sure to stop and say hello!
Please click on the photos below to learn more about the newest members of the Helping Hands Family.
 | Kelly Doherty
Occupational Therapist
and Placement Specialist |
 | |
Erica Noyes
Development and Communication Associate
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
