Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • August 8, 2007 | ||
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Notes from Vegan OutreachGame On for New Semester!
Aashish Bhimani leaflets at the Van Dorn Metro station; photo by Jon Camp. During spring semester 2007, Vegan Outreach activists handed a total of 343,120 leaflets directly to students at 458 schools across the U.S. and abroad. Since August of 2003, the Vegan Outreach Adopt-a-College program has enabled leafleters to visit 810 schools, distributing 1,346,853 leaflets to college students. Please join this effort for the upcoming fall semester, and increase your impact on the world! Even if you have just an hour or two, you can reach hundreds of students who may not otherwise learn of the horrors of today's factory farms, or see a thorough case for choosing compassion. You can learn more at the Adopt a College site, and order booklets via the catalog.
One MillionOne week ago, Vegan Outreach passed the 1,000,000 booklet mark for 2007 -- well ahead of last year's pace. Thanks so much to everyone who has made this possible with your hard work and contributions!
Activist Profile: Jodi Chemes
Continuing our series of profiles, here are some excerpts from the interview with Jodi Chemes: What made you decide to start leafleting? I decided to start leafleting because
I realized I had a responsibility
to spread the word about farm animal
suffering. I knew these animals
could not wait until the rest of
the world stumbled across a video
on the internet like I did.... It is hard to put ourselves out there sometimes because we are afraid someone will make fun of us or be rude to us. However, just remember that this is very rare. I've handed out thousands of leaflets and 99% of the time the interactions are positive. I've learned to brush off the negative ones and just let them walk away. Also, just remember this one phrase that I picked up from Chicago activist, Omnia Ibrahim: "That's ok, I just want you to read this." It pretty much works with every comment you could possibly get from people. Also remember that the animals are counting on us to speak up for them. The people we hand leaflets to might otherwise never have been exposed to this issue, and might not have changed their eating habits to help animals had you not given them a leaflet. That is powerful! What was your most positive leafleting experience this year and why? My most positive leafleting experience was at University of South Florida in Tampa. A young man came up to me and said "Hey, I just wanted you to know that you gave me one of those last semester and I went vegetarian. Thank you." I have positive experiences every time I leaflet because there are always people who thank me for being there or who take an obvious interest in the material.
Product of the WeekLinda: Nutiva Organic Shelled Hemp Seeds. This product is a perfect substitute for Parmesan cheese. Comes in a bright yellow bag and I've bought them at Vitamin Shoppe and at Wild Oats. Send your nominees for Product of the Week to product (at) veganoutreach (dot) org; previous products can be found here.
Feedback from Our MembersAt the Sounds of the
Underground Tour,
I had ~80% acceptance rate, and
about 50 really positive responses,
along with a few negative. I have
truly reached the point that I enjoy
the negative stuff every bit as
much as the positive. For one thing
I find it humorous. But also, I
realize that I am showing something
they clearly recognize as the truth.
They did not want to see it or know
about it and they are angry. When I saw your brochure
at Virgin Fest, I
was shocked to see what these poor
animals go through. Here we are
watching all these horror movies
thinking they are just pretend,
but what the animals in these slaughterhouses
go through is worse than that. I
think that you should keep up going
to events where teenagers will see
your pamphlets and read up on being
vegan. This has changed me and inspired
me to change my lifestyle. While leafleting at
the Glenmont Metro station,
I separately met two former vegetarians
interested in going veg again after
reading the Even If booklet.
I was able to spend some time talking
with them and I gave them both a
GCFE. They each seemed
grateful, and sincerely committed
to changing their diets again. While leafleting at
the street fair, I gave a girl an
Even If,
and she excitedly
told the guy she was with (as she
was pointing to the VO info on the
back of the pamphlet), "These
are the people who got me to go
vegan!" Leafleting at the Bethesda
Metro station with
Jon and Jenna, we had to raise our
voices to be heard above the musicians
playing. Being more forceful and
focused than normal with my question,
"Booklet to help animals?"
reminded me that we are, literally,
the animals' voice.
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We
all know that our day-to-day individual
choices have an important impact
in the world. Every day, though,
we can take action to multiply this
impact, by reaching out to more
and more people with the truth of
modern animal agribusiness.