Notes from Vegan Outreach

AAC -- Be a Part of It!

Adopt a College activists continue to take the animals' message to more and more people every day. Already this semester, booklets have been handed directly to 90,000+ students on campuses across North America. This is more than the total for any of AAC's first three semesters! Tens of thousands more have been handed to young people at other venues as well.

Over 17 million students are in college this year. As Casey Constable points out, leafleters are still needed in every state -- no college has yet been saturated. At this record distribution pace, Vegan Outreach also needs contributions to print more booklets so activists are able to keep reaching thousands of new people every day. You can contribute securely here.

Doug Brown leaflets at UC Berkeley; photo by Victor Tsou.

We normally choose only a few pieces of feedback each week. But for this eN, we wanted to share a wider sample of the feedback we receive every day, to give you a better sense of the scope and success of VO's efforts.

Together, we can reach more and more people, every single day!

Notes from Our Members

At U South Florida, Tampa, I leafleted with Carly, who got a booklet from me last week. She has since gone vegan and is now helping me leaflet! Today, I met another person interested in leafleting and tabling with us in the future!
-Jodi Chemes, 9/5/07

At the Power to the Peaceful Concert, one person told me they had not eaten any meat since they got an Even If (from Victor) at a recent A's game -- they didn't even read it, just saw the cover. Another interesting encounter:

Me: Bring peace to every meal.
Them: I really feel bad for the animals, but humans have always eaten them.
Me: Humans have also always raped and murdered. However, humans have also shown the capability to act with compassion and kindness. I bet you prefer humans act from their benevolence than their malevolence, just as I do.
Them: OK, I'll take a look at it.

-AN, 9/9/07

Hannah Shaw leaflets at George Mason U; photo by Jon Camp.

I went leafleting at the mall to reach a younger crowd. It was the best leafleting experience I could ask for. I had people asking me for more, but I ran out. I started most of my interactions with, "Hey. Do any of you care about animals?" Kids told me they were going to be vegetarian that night!
-Ryan B, Hanover Park, IL, 9/9/07

At the Galleria Mall today, a family which had gotten Why Vegan pamphlets earlier in the day told me that their daughter has just told them that she is never eating meat ever again. I gave the family a GCFE. I also had this encounter:

First girl, "Yeah, this is the pamphlet that makes people cry."
Me: "So did the people who cried convert."
First Girl: "Yes, they went vegetarian. It's very effective."
Second Girl, "Yeah, it caused me to go vegetarian."
Me: "In this case, you will also want one of these." [I give her a GCFE.]
Third girl, "I need one of those too."

-Eugene Khutoryansky, Houston, TX, 9/8/07

Kaya Hansen leaflets at U WI, Milwaukee; photo by Joe Espinosa.

I met lots of enthusiastic students today at the University of San Francisco and then at the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology. Exchange of the day at USF:

Me: Help end cruelty!
She (takes a look): I got that exact pamphlet four years ago and I've been a vegetarian ever since. I'll take one for my roommates.

Exchange of the day at Galileo:

Me: Help end cruelty!
She: No, I can't look at that.
Me: I think it's important for everybody to read this one time in their life.
She: Okay, I'll read it.

-Victor Tsou, 9/10/07

I am a senior in high school and am founding a vegetarian/vegan outreach club this year. Why Vegan was the catalyst in my transformation about 5 years ago. The information it provided me truly changed my life.
-ES, Sacramento, CA, 9/9/07

At the Family Values Concert, many of the attendees took booklets with great enthusiasm: Alright! Definitely! I'll take that one! Yes! Anytime we leaflet we advance the cause, but tonight felt like there were many right on that cusp of going veg and just needed that extra little push. And it's always so great spending quality time with my daughter [age 11, at right], who commented, "I'm so tired and my wrist hurts (ice skating today and she fell), but I love leafleting."
-Stewart Solomon, 9/3/07

At UT, Austin, Casey, Ahlese, Ben, and I had plenty of positive feedback. My most satisfying moment occurred as a young man passed by for the second time reading the open pamphlet. He looked at me and said, "This is unbelievable." Our eyes met for a moment, and I knew exactly how he felt. I knew we had made a connection. This was just one of many beneficial interactions.
     Yesterday, Casey ran into a student who got a pamphlet from him last year, and as a result, she is now vegetarian / almost vegan. Also as a result of this pamphlet she got from him last year, her sister and her mother are now vegetarians. She stopped to help Casey leaflet for a while. During the course of the day, two other people also spontaneously stopped to help him leaflet for a bit.
-Sarah Bryant, 9/5/07

Lindsay Parme leaflets at Howard U; photo by Jon Camp.

I picked up a copy of Why Vegan in a natural food store nine years ago. After reading it, maintaining a vegan diet never felt like a challenge. All desire for the foods I once thought I could never give up -- the foods I thought I would always miss -- was gone. Thanks for your help!
-ML, Syracuse, NY, 9/3/07

While leafleting outside of Berkeley High School today, few women who were collecting signatures asked to see what I was handing out. All three of them, upon seeing the truth contained in the Even If, exclaimed that they were about to go veg. One woman said that she was going to tape it to her refrigerator so she couldn't forget what she'd seen.
-Miranda Robbins, 9/11/07

Today at Fayetteville State, I overheard one student say the brochure (from last semester) is the reason he stopped eating meat. Another student expressed interest in being vegetarian, but he doubted he could be 100%. I suggested just keep adding veggie meals to his rotation and then see how far he could get. At the end of the day, a professor came up and said she went veg recently because of animal issues.
-Jeff Boghosian, 9/4/07

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Vegan Outreach
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