Enewsletter

Notes from Vegan Outreach

Yowza!

Vegan Outreach activists have now reported directly reaching more than 5,000,000 individuals since we started tracking campus and off-campus leafleting totals in the fall of 2003.

Special congratulation to VO's top all-time leafleter, Jon "The Man, The Myth, The Legend" Camp (right), who has personally reached over 500,000 people with the animals' plight and the compassionate alternative!!

All for Team Vegan, Team Vegan for All!

After a month of training, Team Vegan is over a third of the way to the $75,000 matching goal! Thanks so much to everyone who is taking part and who has supported a runner (or the team in general).

At right, Lisa Towell, Kathy Buckley, and Alex Bury enjoy training for the animals.

Note: Team Vegan is run by Vegan Outreach, so not only is your donation doubled dollar-for-dollar, no fees are taken out of your contribution for a management consultant or by the donation website. Please support a runner, or the entire team -- it will help us provide more booklets to activists who need them!

Link of the Week

Three pages of Amazon.com reviews of The Animal Activist's Handbook available for purchase here at 1/3rd off the cover price!

Product of the Week

Send your product of the week to product (at) veganoutreach (dot) org; previous entries here.

Notes from All Over

Lightning Round

• Vegan Animation: The Goode Family
• Going Vegan for a Month
• The Vegetarian Site: Comedian Does U-turn on Pork
• Vegan.com: TV Veggie Choppers Compared; Factory Pig Farmer’s Complaint Backfires; Saving Animals through Respectful Behavior

Notes from Our Members

	Eileen Botti encourages students at SUNY Stony Brook to take a stand for the animals.

CUNY John Jay was amazing -- Sean Diener and I handed out over 1,200 booklets in just a few hours. A few of the highlights:
     "I just wanted you to know that that pamphlet made me go vegetarian last time you were here."
     "Girl, you're gonna make me wanna go vegetarian with this!"
     (One student to her friend) "Oh yeah I got that -- I think I'm going vegetarian!"
     Yesterday at CUNY Queens College, I met one vegetarian who took a Guide and a few extra leaflets for her neighbors. I also met other students who were genuinely interested in going vegan and also took Guides. One of those students said, "I saw some of this info online and tried some vegan food, but after you handed me this and I read it in class, I am so much more motivated again. I like that you don't make it an all-or-nothing approach." We talked about soy cheese and good vegan food -- I'm pretty confident that she's going to give veganism a shot!
-Eileen Botti, 5/6/09

Last night, one person at the vegan meetup told me she has a friend who she has been trying to get to go vegetarian for many years. However, despite all her efforts, and all the information she has presented, she had absolutely no influence on her friend. But her friend recently ran into me while I was leafleting, and I gave her a VO booklet. As a result, her friend has now made the decision to go vegetarian.
     Another person at meetup told me that the reason she changed from being a meat eater to being a vegan is because of the VO booklet. She had already seen the videos, but she didn't make the switch until she saw the booklet, which made her go from meat eater to vegan overnight. She has now been vegan for two years.
-Eugene Khutoryansky, 5/10/09

Leafleting the Portland Saturday Market was a great experience. I can't even remember how many times I heard, "Awww" and "Ewww." Girls were huddled around reading the booklets together. Highlights:
     One girl declined a Compassionate Choices and then turned to her friend and said, "I got one of those at school. It was really sad."
     Another girl took a booklet and said, "This is why I'm vegetarian! This stuff is real!" She was excited to receive a Compassionate Choices and a Guide. I watched her walk across the road, holding up the booklets with pride.
     After taking a booklet, one woman tried giving it to the guy she was with. He wouldn't take it, so she decided to open it. She stopped walking and just stood there looking down at the booklet in disbelief. "This is horrible," she said to her friends.
-Jessica Dadds, 5/13/09

I recently took an adult education class at a neighborhood high school and was given the opportunity to talk about factory farming. Everyone seemed horrified. So, the next week, I brought my Vegan Outreach materials and distributed brochures to everyone. Some people asked me for multiple copies to share with friends and family members, as well as coworkers. I explained how each one of them can help animals simply by making a change in what they eat. After I distributed the brochures, I noticed everyone taking some time to read them. A few people asked me where to shop in the neighborhood so that they could explore non-animal diets. The brochures generated a lot of discussion and thought, and questions about how to avoid contributing to animal suffering.
-EK, 5/7/09

	A Dowling College student is shocked by the truth revealed to him by Jennifer Greene.

Fantastic day of outreach at Diablo Valley College. During the second class change I met Niccola, a new vegetarian who asked me what he could do to help. He had some time and was able to leaflet on the spot. Super outgoing guy and did a great job. He ran into his friend Jim from the Army and convinced Jim to help out also. Both radiated confidence and genuine friendliness.
     I met two different guys who once again reminded me how important this work is. The first guy I met only a few minutes into leafleting. He said he had gotten a leaflet before and hadn’t eaten meat for a while. He had fallen off the wagon and was glad to receive another leaflet and Guide. He told me that “this just runs so deep” and can’t be ignored, despite how difficult it may be to change. I told him that’s what compelled me to be out leafleting; he gave me a hearty handshake and was on his way.
     The second gentleman I encountered later in the day. He explained that he knew what was happening to farmed animals was horrible, but that he was so used to eating meat. I told him that we live in a culture of eating meat and that we each have to find our path in how we choose to respond to the dilemma of culture vs. cruelty. I told him my own personal story and he seemed really moved. I also told him that if he could go veg for three months, he could do it for life. He took a Guide and also gave me a hearty handshake.
-Brian Grupe, 5/13/09

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