Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • December 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||
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The brutality of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses is far from public view, hidden behind walls both physical and psychological. The cruelty to chickens, turkeys, and pigs that occurs on factory farms is every bit as horrible as any act of barbarism that turns the stomachs of animal lovers everywhere. Even worse, the cruelty to farmed animals is done on a scale that vastly exceeds all other acts of cruelty to animals, combined; indeed, ninety-nine percent of animals killed in the U.S. are slaughtered for human consumption. Since agribusiness won’t bring the public to their factory farms and slaughterhouses, we bring the truth to the public!
Notes from Vegan Outreach
Does It Make a Difference?For years, as donations to Vegan Outreach increased, the number of people receiving booklets increased. With the economic collapse and the subsequent decline in contributions, 2009 reverses this trend (right). Clearly, your contributions make all the difference. Your money doesn’t go to an endowment, or to other programs. Rather, what you give goes right to focused, efficient advocacy for the animals. To put it another way: You determine Vegan Outreach’s work. You determine how many people learn the hidden truth, how many people stop supporting agribusiness, how quickly we move to an informed, compassionate society.
You make the change happen! Please join your fellow members of the Vegan Outreach team who have contributed to the matching challenge by making a fully tax-deductible contribution that will be doubled, dollar for dollar! You can use a credit card to make a secure donation online, or send a check or money order to: Vegan Outreach | POB 30865 | Tucson, AZ 85751 Please
make the gift that keeps on giving –
Link of the Week: VegNews Interview
“For nearly two decades Matt Ball and Jack Norris have built Vegan Outreach (VO) from the roots up. Along the way, they – with VO’s legion of loyal volunteers – have handed out, mostly on college campuses, more than 10 million pro-veg pieces of literature. Now that school is back in session, we turn our 10 Questions to the men who might be responsible for keeping more meat off more plates than just about anyone.” Full article (PDF).
Notes from Our Members
Thank
you for all you do. I would not
be vegan if not for your outreach materials.
Please accept this donation so you may continue
your outreach. I appreciate
and admire the work you all do.
I credit a leaflet received at Temple University
a year ago to my decision to go vegan. The leaflet
was striking and informative, and led to a decision
I feel good about every day. Your work really
makes a difference, and now I want to be a part
of it by giving to your matching campaign. The University
of DC campus area is notoriously
swarmed by canvassers, but your representative
simply asked, “Can I hand you some information
about animal rights?” I really appreciate
this level of honesty and straightforwardness.
This approach represents a level of respect
for the intelligence and maturity of the audience
seldom in evidence from canvassers; your representative
acknowledged my ability to see for myself the
importance of your organization’s mission
by evaluating the materials in my own time without
the need to be pressured for support.
I had
a 90% take rate at the College
of Mount Saint Vincent. One student stopped
to help me leaflet for a while, which was very
exciting! I heard one student, after taking
an extra leaflet, remark to his friend, “I’m
never eating chicken again!” Good
reception at private Shaw University,
with very positive interactions. One student
organizer approached and said he was interested
in learning more about the topic, so we are
arranging a screening/discussion, complete with
VO lit! Tremendous
response at South Mountain Community College.
Almost everyone accepted a brochure, and a few
people came back to get one. Three people mentioned
recently having done a paper in English class
about factory farming, and another two mentioned
they were about to. Just as I was giving a Guide
to a woman who came back to get one, another
fellow came back to get a brochure. Turned out
he was a philosophy professor on his way to
class and was covering vegetarianism today.
He asked if I could speak; I ended up staying
for the entire class, and most left with an
Even If You Like Meat and Guide.
Vegans can be rest assured that no one came
up with a good rational reason not to be vegan.
The first leaflet I offered at
Long Beach City College was to a young African
American who said she didn’t eat meat. She
gladly accepted a Guide. A gentleman
approached me to tell me (quite profusely) how
much he admired me for using my time to spread
this message. All the vegans I met gladly accepted
a Guide and A
Meaningful Life. I met a lot more vegetarians today
at the University of Nebraska – Omaha than in the
past: 15 vegetarians and one vegan! I could
tell I was causing some discussion on campus because people knew what
it was before they got to me. One woman walked by, patted me on
the shoulder, and said, “I’m right there
with you!” One girl said, “I really
wanted Buffalo Wild Wings. Then, after I saw
that, I didn’t want Buffalo Wild Wings anymore.” Lots
of students at Oakton College wanted
to learn more about a vegan diet. The five of
us (Mikael, Anna, Beata, Bill and I) all received
a lot of thank yous for being there. I was also
pleasantly surprised by three separate encounters
with older adults. Two of them, males in their
50s, wanted to know more. Each talked with me
for a few minutes and said they’d try
to incorporate more veg meals into their diets.
Another was an older woman who had received
a booklet before and wanted more to give to
her friends.
Joe, Darina, and I handed
booklets to hundreds of people at the JS Foer
Eating Animals talk. The 385-seat theater
was full and there were many people who watched
the presentation from an overflow room on a
video monitor. Great to know there is so much
interest in this topic! There were lots of young
people in attendance, including many who told
us they are veg. Largely
friendly, polite and receptive students at
Southern Illinois University – Carbondale,
where I had 49 bike and three skateboard passes.
I heard from about 20 vegetarians, most of whom
were thrilled to receive a Guide. I
was invited to a big vegetarian Thanksgiving
dinner held this evening by a newly formed, registered,
vegetarian student group, so I helped them cook
for a couple hours after I finished leafleting,
provided them with some additional literature,
gave my contact info to the leader, and ate.
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The professor asked if I could speak in the
future. 
