Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • February 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan OutreachVegan Valentine’s Dance to Benefit Vegan OutreachIf you haven’t heard the news, the Vegan Valentine’s Day Dance in Berkeley is going to be a blast! Acres of valuable raffle prizes to be won. If you buy your ticket before February 6, you will receive 2 free raffle tickets. Learn more.
Activist Profile: Rob GilbrideContinuing our series of activist profiles, we meet Rob Gilbride. From California to North Carolina, Rob has reached nearly 75,000 individuals with Vegan Outreach booklets!
Here is an excerpt from his profile: What was your most positive leafleting experience and why? One of my most positive leafleting experiences was leafleting at Duke University. Well, it was after I leafleted. I was standing in the Whole Foods checkout line when a student came up to me and said, “You are the guy who handed me a leaflet on campus last semester. Thank you so much.” He then told me that he is now vegan and writing about veganism for one of his classes. He shared the leaflet I gave him with some of his friends, and as a result they went vegan as well. Once I realized how much of an impact I could make with so little effort, I was hooked. Read the full interview!
Product of the WeekRob’s partner Eleni: “Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages – this recipe will change your life! I’ve had about five different meat-eatin’ people ask me for it…and have taken them to several events etc. where they were eaten up quickly and folks asked, ‘That’s VEGAN?’ I add sage and reduce the water to a little less than 2 cups.” Send your product of the week to product (at) veganoutreach (dot) org; previous entries here.
Notes from All OverMeatout 2010Looking for an excuse to get active? Meatout 2010 is coming next month! And be sure to contact Anne (at) veganoutreach (dot) org if you’d like to be hooked up with a leafleter in your area.
Notes from Our Members
Many
thanks to Lana Smithson and Nikki
Benoit for driving out to Orlando to join Phil
Letten and me at Central Florida University.
We had numerous great interactions, and watched
many people reading their booklet. Someone told
Lana the pamphlet made them cry, and later,
two guys prayed with her that her message would
be heard. My favorite was a girl who, after
speaking with me, threw her platter of bacon
and eggs in the trash. Very proud of our effort
today – it was very tiring, but everybody
just kept plugging away. There are many new
vegetarians in Orlando tonight. Here
in the very conservative farm
state of Kansas, we’re doing our best
to spread the word about factory farming and
animal suffering. We led a six-week series of
ethics classes at our church and did two classes
on factory farming, handing out Vegan Outreach
literature and referencing your website. (We
also leave your booklets on the pamphlet table
at church.) As a result, our church has decided
to always offer vegetarian fare as an alternative.
Our daughters also do outreach to their friends
at school, and some have gone vegetarian. Just
as we were ignorant in the past, we believe
most people really don’t know about modern
factory farming, and it is our job to get the
information to them.
We’re
starting to leaflet here in Kitchener-Waterloo;
here is my latest donation. I was an omnivore
for years – if I can be won over, there’s
hope! Reached
1,075 students with Even If
You Like Meat booklets at Illinois State,
and also handed out 14 Guides.
One student let me know that getting a booklet
from us last semester had moved her to become
vegetarian. Also, I was approached by two separate
students who inquired about joining in the work.
I gave them each a copy of AML
and a brief explanation that leafleting on behalf
of farmed animals was statistically likely to
be the best thing we can do to reduce animal
suffering at this time. Handed
booklets to 1,400 students during
a long day at Virginia Commonwealth University,
while receiving some kind words of support.
One young woman said receiving the Even
If last November prompted her to go veg.
At Santa
Clara University, a student mentioned
that the booklets had been brought up in one
of his classes, and for the most part the students
agreed with what was said inside. He also asked
how I felt about the human suffering that was
caused by factory farming and said he felt the
booklets would have a larger impact upon the
students if the booklets had discussed that
issue more. I agreed that the impact from factory
farms on humans was certainly terrible and worth
ending as well, but I felt that one of the things
the booklets were intended to challenge was
the idea that non-human animals aren’t
worthy of having their interests considered
in and of themselves. He agreed with this. At the
Houston Marathon, I met a nice
family that all went veg after I gave them a
booklet at the International Festival a few
years ago – the father opened the booklet
and they quit (eating meat) on the spot. They
even help Eugene Khutoryansky leaflet on occassion.
I had
a great conversation with a guy
who seemed really inspired to change his diet
after reading a booklet. This kind of interaction
always makes me realize how important it is
to be out there spreading the word. I’m
sure we all make a real difference for animals
each time we make the effort to leaflet.
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