Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • July 20, 2011 | ||||||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan Outreach15,000,000!Yes, it was only a few short months ago that we announced the 14,000,000-booklet milestone, but the incredible VO crew have been on an amazing roll! That’s right! Vegan Outreach has now distributed over 15,000,000 booklets! Thanks so much to all the donors and all the activists who made this possible! It’s hard to imagine any other accomplishment that’s as much a team effort. Together, we’ll reach the next 15,000,000 in just a few years!
Activist Profile: John Sakars
Continuing our series of activist profiles, today we meet one of our Canadian activists, John Sakars. John has reached a total of 21,473 people throughout the provinces! Here’s an excerpt: What would you say to individuals hesitant about leafleting? I would say that leafleting can be a fantastic growth experience. You will find that it’s actually quite easy to get over your approach anxiety. Once you hand out your first couple of booklets, you will see that people are generally very friendly and happy to receive the information. I’ve even had people hug me and want their pictures taken with me. My confidence has improved dramatically since I began leafleting. I think of myself as being a “vegan superhero.” Also, you shouldn’t think that you are trying to “push your views on people,” as my carnist family members say. All you are doing is offering information. In the end, people make their own decisions about what to eat. By handing someone a booklet, you are helping to educate that person about the cruelty of factory farming, so that that person can then make more informed choices about what to eat. People have a right to know about the lives of the billions of animals getting hurt and killed for food. I love the Vegan Outreach family. I am grateful for the leafleters promoting veganism, and I am grateful for the donors funding this outreach. Vegan Outreach gives me and the other leafleters a chance to do something extraordinary with our lives. When we hand out booklets, we get to save lives! I’m sure many of us will never forget the person who first taught us about veganism. Well, when you hand out Vegan Outreach leaflets, you get to be that person. You get to be the person who teaches someone how to make compassionate choices. You get to be the person who teaches someone that animals are friends, not food. You can read the full interview here.
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Products of the WeekJohn’s only suggestion is fresh fruits and vegetables, so this week is a good time to go visit your local farmers’ market!
Please submit your nominees for product of the week via this page; previous entries here.
Notes from Our Members
Another fantastic leafleting
at First Friday Art Walk! We had 26 activists
out, including 21 leafleters (the other 5
helped out in numerous ways). Together, we reached
2,693 people, including giving out dozens and
dozens of Guides.
We met quite a few people who’ve been affected
by VO booklets in the past. Many conversations
went like this: “Would you like info to
help animals?” “Oh, I got those
before!” “So are you vegetarian?”
“Yeah!” “Excellent, here’s
a Guide!” Today was really successful
at Columbus State, where I reached 200 more
students. At least 8 stopped to talk with
me about animal rights; the general responses
were ones of disgust at the literature’s contents,
as well as concern, and interest. An older student
told me that she had gone vegan after reading
our literature and talking with me previously.
Needless to say, that was really exciting. When leafleting the Denver Pride
Fest, someone told me that they
got a Compassionate Choices last year
in Hollywood and went vegan because of it.
Good reception at Wright State,
along with a general tone of curiosity on the
issue from many students. Heard from three vegans
and nine vegetarians; one stated that getting
the booklet in the past is what moved her to
drop meat. Someone handed me
your Even If You Like Meat booklet
on the street, and I think it might change my
life! I first heard about
this when I was younger – people were passing
out booklets – but I was just 10 years old
and knew I would have little support. I’ve luckily
found you again by surfing the internet. Today I was interviewed by
an ESL (English as a Second Language) student
at Oregon State for a speaking project. The
idea of organizations and a movement dedicated
to promoting not eating animals was new to her.
We looked at the VO booklets and some other
things. She was shocked. I gave her 20 Even
Ifs, 20 Guides, and 2 Compassionate
Choices to share with her classmates and
instructor. We also looked at several websites,
including VO. (It’s great that there are Chinese
translations there, as this student is from
China.)
Lori, Jeni, and I reached over
1,500 people at the Live 105 concert
– what a great experience! There were fewer
than 10 booklets that ended up on the ground, no one
was drunk, and most were cordial if not downright
friendly. We leafleted the lines waiting and
had 90% take rate. We watched many people taking
the time to give the brochure a good read through.
It was exciting to see! Good conversations at
North Carolina State. One student told me he
went vegetarian last October but was interested
in going vegan because he knew vegetarian wasn’t
enough; I gave him a Guide and my contact
info to help him make the vegan transition.
An older guy told me he got a VO booklet a year
ago and was cleaning the clutter in his house
last night and came across it. He gave it to
his wife and she read it and was horrified by
the treatment of animals used for food. He got
a Guide as well. Handed out 499 Compassionate
Choices and 5 Guides at the
Boulder Creek Festival. Some people thanked
me for being there, and a mom and ~9-year-old
daughter came back to tell me that they got
a booklet a couple of years ago and have been
vegetarian ever since.
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