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Do you live between Pittsburgh and Tucson? Or in San Diego?
If so, please click here.
Sorry for the wrong link.
Go Forth and Leaflet!
-Jack Norris
Preparations for the next National Leaflet Your Local School Day (NLD) are
well under way. The deadline is September 25, so please sign
up now.
You can view the list of people and schools currently registered for NLD here.
Here is some feedback we’ve received; most of it is from people who took
part in NLD last Spring. We'll start with the two people who had a harder time
than others…
I tried during our lunch period and after school but
I noticed the people who were taking them weren't really reading it and most
were throwing them away. I decided to save the literature and go to the nearest
Barnes & Noble bookstore. I stuck the pamphlets & flyers in certain
books and I’m sure that worked out very well. Anyway, ultimately, leafleting
my school was not very successful but I still put the literature to good use!
-EM, Agoura Hills, CA
My experience is that sometimes you have to move onto a different group of
people who are not seeing what others are doing. For example, if I am leafleting
to a long line of people approaching me on a sidewalk and a few of them refuse
the pamphlet, I will stop offering it until a fresh group of people arrive.
Otherwise, you can get a tremendous number of people to turn you down just because
that’s what they saw the people in front of them doing. Similarly, people
often take one just because the person in front of them did. It’s always
best not to leaflet right by a trash can.
We’re glad EM used the pamphlets at Barnes & Noble rather than letting
them sit in his closet at home, but don’t know how effective putting them
in books can really be. On the other hand, perhaps he is onto something. Still,
keeping the flyers and trying other students at a different time might find
them a little more open to the ideas.
I, along with four others, passed out the vegan info
with the school’s permission. We hit all sides of the school before
sunrise to ensure even the early risers would see a flyer or pamphlet. By
9:00 a.m. all flyers and pamphlets had vanished from the campus. Since I got
school permission to distribute, I know the school had nothing to do with
the disappearance. Despite this we continued to pass out the remainder of
literature in person. Many people understood what we were trying to do. We
weren’t trying to convert anyone. We just wanted to spread info that
many are not familiar with, and let them come up with their own conclusions.
We also encountered a great deal of people who would throw the leaflets on
the ground as soon as they took it. Nevertheless, I feel it was a success
and look forward to doing it again.
-AW, Gunnison, CO
Having flyers disappear after they are placed all around campus is probably
typical. At least one anti-animal rights person will likely go around taking
down all the flyers. We’d suggest only putting out flyers in safe places
so they don’t get wasted.
We hope you will find the rest of the feedback enjoyable and inspiring.
I did leaflet and it went great! In the end I only
had a few flyers left. A lot of people I talked to decided to become vegetarian.
Some people decided to change their diets and not eat meat but still eat eggs
and ice cream. I thought it was a huge success and am looking forward to doing
it at college this year. I am now a freshman and Marian College in Indianapolis,
Indiana and I cannot wait.
-MB, Indianapolis, IN
I distributed the information at Radford High School
at Honolulu, Hawaii. It seemed like a success, and I got a lot of questions.
But I also had some people who thought it was dumb, and what not. But I guess
I’m going to get that no matter what... Thanks for the information and
once I get settled into Wyoming (where I now live) I plan on passing out more
stuff.
-AP, Wyoming
I distributed all the literature you sent me at my
high school in Redwood City. I got some very good initial reactions, and heard
over the course of the next week that many people had decided to try out a
vegetarian diet. Of course there are always the people that are closed minded
to this, but overall, I think if even one person became vegetarian or vegan,
I helped to save many animals’ lives. I think the leafleting day is
a wonderful idea, and I hope you'll continue it!
-NS, Redwood City, CA
I distributed materials around my campus, the University
of Alabama at Birmingham. People took the materials enthusiastically, but
most seemed unable or uninterested in conversing. I plan on doing something
similar relatively soon. Education through literature and conversation is
my favorite form of activism, and it seems to be one of the only accepted
forms here in Birmingham.
-JS, Birmingham, AL
The leafleting day went great! I passed out most of
the literature, and people responded well. I saved that which I didn't pass
out to hand out at my new school in the fall. Thanks for all of you folks'
hard work!
-LD, San Antonio, TX
It was an interesting experience for me as I had not
been on a college campus in a few years … there definitely seemed to
be a few open-minded students. Outside of the Union, there were many groups
tabling and some handing out flyers themselves (there was a lot of competition).
I found that it was best to be in motion, walking around the campus and up
to people who were coming towards me and giving them a Why Vegan.
About half the people took them.
-GQ, San Francisco, CA
Finally, some closing commentary by yours truly after a recent leafleting I
took part in:
Lauren Ornelas and I recently leafleted at a community college in Sacramento.
For years, when leafleting at colleges, I stood in one place and waited for
people to come to me. Lauren had previously showed me the more effective way
of walking up to people and offering them a brochure. Today I really took that
tactic to heart and approached people sitting in groups talking and eating lunch,
both on the ground and at tables. This was very fruitful. Every group had at
least one person who wanted a brochure, and often this led to more asking for
one. The groups then got into a conversation about eating animals. People sitting
by themselves were also very open to receiving a brochure compared to people
who were walking when I offered them one. I will be sure to do it again
soon!
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Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating.
All donations are tax-deductible.
Vegan Outreach
POB 30865, Tucson, AZ 85751-0865 |
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