The mood was delightfully rainforest chic at the eighth annual Chimps Kitchen: A Local Celebrity Chef Tasting Fundraiser, held last Thursday evening at Cobalt Restaurant at Vero Beach Hotel & Spa to benefit Save the Chimps, a 150-acre sanctuary in Fort Pierce that is now home to 251 chimpanzees liberated from research laboratories, circuses, zoos and the entertainment industry.
The sleek dining room had been transformed with Congo resort décor, live new-age ambient musicians and subtle lighting.
Servers passed chimp-inspired banana daiquiris and local chefs presented creative vegetarian dishes at buffet stations strategically placed to accommodate more than 200 attendees.
Chefs from Bent Pine Golf Club, The Moorings Yacht & Country Club, Windsor Club, Frostings, Grind + Grape and Cobalt Restaurant went above and beyond, not only preparing the delicious fare but offering an incredibly stunning visual appeal as well. Each of them had donated the menu and their time to help raise an anticipated $100,000 for the sanctuary.
Raffle volunteers were dressed in black T-shirts emblazoned with “98.6% Chimp” across their chests, representing the percentage of DNA characteristics chimpanzees share with their human counterparts. The chimps’ plight was intensely felt through artwork offered as auction items, some actually created by the primates.
“I have such a love and respect for the chimpanzees,” said Executive Director Molly Polidoroff. “When you look into their eyes they are just so soulful. Save the Chimps is the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world. It is such an incredible opportunity to see the chimpanzees get to live out their lives in a sanctuary with such a caring staff.”
Lucian Meyer once had a Vegas act that included ice skating chimps. His former chimp, Terri, now lives at the sanctuary and he has visited her five times while volunteering there, including the morning of the event when he made 350 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their breakfast.
“It is so nice they get to be outside on the islands,” said Meyer. “I treated my chimps very nicely but some of these places did not. But now they have such a nice place as their home.”
Animal lovers Judy Van Saun and Laura Guttridge have served multiple times as co-chairs for the event, and Van Saun was intent on getting the highest bids possible on the auction items.
“We managed to get a vintner to donate a bottle of wine to go with certain auction items,” said Van Saun. “The wines are of the caliber of donations to National Geographic and presidential dinners.”
Guttridge, who is also a director on the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, began her connection to STC after delivering coconuts to the sanctuary and seeing their amazing work.
“We have a sacred responsibility to keep all creatures from being exploited or abused,” said Guttridge. “These magnificent animals, which were once subjected to horrible abuse and suffering, are now able to roam these islands and socialize with other chimps. It is truly heartwarming and it gave me chills.”
