Hi folks-

I've been a PBS member for a while now, but I've never posted to a forum before. I'm asking for your help in supporting The Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, FL. There are 28 chimpanzees and 14 orangutans living there. They are primarily ex-performers in movies, circuses, advertisments and tv shows, or they were ex-pets, whose owners were no longer able to care for them when they grew up. Learn more at http:// www.centerforgreatapes.org. We are competing in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge for $50,000 to build a "bachelor pad" for our two teenage orangutans Louie and BamBam (some of you may remember BamBam from his "gig" as Precious the orangutan nurse on the soap opera Passions.) Unlike chimpanzees, orangutans are not social, and, in fact, adult males prefer to live alone.

All you have to do to help us is text 102943 to 73774. You can also vote online by going to www.refresheverything.com/centerforgreatapes, and if you are on Facebook, you can vote again through the facebook app. We have climbed to #65, but only the top 10 are funded, so I'm hoping the PBS animal lovers would be willing to help us out. Thanks very much for taking the time to read this, and please vote and share with your friends!!

Melanie (lilybooks)