Notes from Vegan Outreach

A Day in the Life of Advocating for the Animals

The day after Labor Day marks the kickoff for Adopt a College's fall semester, and what a day it was! On September 2 alone, 19,009 students learned the truth about the hidden animal cruelty of their food choices. Vic Sjodin was the top leafleter for the day, taking the animals' plight to an incredible 4,001 students!

Leah Wagner reaches another student with the message of compassion at Johnson County Community College in Kansas.

Overall college distribution for fall term is over 131,000 booklets at 144 schools! Kudos to full-time father and teacher Stewart Solomon, who, along with fellow volunteer Casey Constable, is already over 11,000 booklets for the semester!

Two Leafleting Tales

Joe Espinosa's interview on Vegan.com resulted in Generation V leafleting the University of Alaska! Also, Brian Grupe offers an insightful story on getting more people to consider the animals' plight.

Help Jon Help Animals

Starting in late September, Jon Camp, Vegan Outreach's Director of Outreach, will be on a leafleting tour throughout Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and northern GA, with a few days spent in Ithaca and Binghamton, NY. He's eager to leaflet with you or talk with your local group about Vegan Outreach and his experiences advocating for animals. If you're interested, please email jon (at) veganoutreach (dot) org.

Product of the Week

Jessica: "Fantastic Foods has reissued Tofu Scrambler. When they discontinued it, my boyfriend was in despair and bought as many boxes as the pantry would hold. We ran out a few months ago, but not to fear, I just ordered a bunch from Pangea!"

Notes from Our Members

Leafleting the University of Illinois, Chicago for an hour before work, I heard from three vegans and six vegetarians, including a student who stopped to let me know that because of me giving her the booklet last semester, she and three others had become vegetarian.
-Joe Espinosa, 9/4/08

Florida International University was packed. One student received the leaflet and immediately said, "We need to give him one," and turned to the student sitting next to her. She proceeded to point out the many abuses and said, "See how the little babies have their beaks cut off -- I told you!" He intently flipped through the leaflet while she asked me for a handful to give to other friends. I encouraged her to leaflet and told her to contact VO.
-Linda Bower, 9/4/08

Katherine Groff lets another Georgetown student know how she can make a difference for the animals.

At the University of Delaware with Stephen Belter, a young woman let me know that she received a pamphlet at last year's Warped Tour stop in NJ (go, HLP!) and that she's been veg ever since. She also mentioned that her sister has dramatically cut down on her meat consumption. That's two days in a row I've heard, while leafleting, from someone who went veg as a result of being handed a pamphlet.
-Jon Camp, 9/5/08

At CUNY John Jay, I witnessed people (who previously received leaflets) encourage their friends to take leaflets from me: "Take one -- you gotta read that -- it's sad," etc.
    At City College of New York yesterday, there was a very high take rate, and several students mentioned receiving leaflets last semester. One student stopped and shouted to her friend, "See -- THIS is why I don't eat meat anymore!" Her friend stopped walking and read the entire Even If. I watched several students reading the pamphlets while they waited near the bus stop, a few of them asking me questions.
    However, Borough of Manhattan Community College is hands down my favorite school to leaflet. I ran into several students who were interested in going vegan due to receiving a VO leaflet in the past. One student shouted from across the sidewalk in front of a ton of students, "That's the flyer that made me stop eating meat! I haven't eaten anything with a face since two years ago!" Another said, "I was thinking of going vegan just yesterday -- this is such a coincidence!" I handed him a Guide, and he responded, "Wow -- you just made my decision to go vegan even easier!"
-Eileen Botti, 9/4/08

Gary Loewenthal reaches new people at Vienna/Fairfax Metro station (Fairfax, VA).

As I have at other schools, I ran a little test at the University of North Texas. When people told me they already received a booklet, I asked them what they thought. About half said that it was horrible and sad (I gave out about 15 Guides that way). Some said they did not have a chance to check it out yet, but would, and a couple of people said it was good. So most do look at it, and many are impacted!
-Casey Constable, 8/27/08

I just recently discovered your organization, and I think it is wonderful. I am always trying to educate myself as well as anyone else who is interested in animal rights issues, and your pamphlet had a tremendous impact. I think one of the best & most effective aspects of your organization is that you don't completely exclude those who eat meat. I think one of the key aspects of changing the current conditions for animals is by letting people know that even eating vegetarian 1-2 times a week can save lives.
-AK, 9/4/08

I am trying to use my time wisely, and I am convinced Vegan Outreach is best way to prevent suffering. I read A Meaningful Life at least once a week to keep me on track!
-JT, 9/3/08

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