Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • July 18, 2012 | |||||||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan Outreach
Activist Profile: Nettie SchwagerContinuing our series of activist profiles, we talk with Nettie Schwager! Here is an excerpt from her profile: What was your most positive leafleting experience? Leafleting is always a positive experience, and every day I leaflet is a good day. I know I have done something great. I think about how the people who received a leaflet will be reading it, thinking about it, showing others and talking about it. Obviously not everyone who gets a booklet does this, but some do. I am seeing results and changes. I see more and more people becoming aware of and caring about this. This is an issue whose time has come. What would you say to individuals hesitant about leafleting? By leafleting, we are putting the information directly into people’s hands. We aren’t hoping that they will seek out this information or stumble across it – we are doing something to make it happen. I enjoy leafleting. I enjoy the conversations and experience, but what is important is that I can reach hundreds of people in a day and I’m reaching the population most open to the message. That’s what counts and that’s what makes leafleting worth doing.
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Conference Next Month
As we’ve featured previously, AR2012 is back in the DC area. If you’ll be there, be sure to come to Jon’s and Matt’s talks, and stop by the VO table!
Notes from Our Members
We
almost doubled the old record
at Miami-Dade College, Kendall – over 1,750
students reached! A number of them will definitely
be pursuing a vegetarian diet or cutting their
animal product consumption. For example, after
she vowed to go veg, I spoke with one student
about simple ways to veganize her Cuban-based
diet. An administrator came out and said they’ve
seen these all over campus and requested one
of each brochure for herself and a coworker.
Yuri met two separate people who said they are
going veg. Fabulous
day at Eastern Connecticut State!
First student I met was wearing a Stop Factory
Farming T-shirt, and I knew my day would be
great! One student returned
to tell me that she turned vegetarian after receiving a Compassionate Choices from
me last semester! She wanted to now go vegan, after getting an
Even If You Like Meat from me today, which she
will give to a friend. Gave her a Guide. Another
student came back to me after reading Even If, and said she has wanted to try vegan eating,
but did not know where to begin. We exchanged
emails and I will support her with her transition!
SCORE! Another student who was already vegan
took a Guide for herself, and an Even
If, which she said she was going to post
to her boyfriend’s refrigerator!
Great
reception at Lake Superior College and
the University of Wisconsin, Superior. One woman
said, “I just wanted to let you know. I
got one of those booklets last year. I’ve been
vegetarian ever since.” She hadn’t ordered
a Guide so was happy to get one. The exact same
thing then happened at the University of Minnesota,
Duluth! Was
able to reach 175 students in just 35 minutes
at Agnes Scott College. A number stopped to
wait for me to hand them a booklet! The most
eye-opening comment came from one girl who looked
at the cover with the chickens and said, “Oh,
I heard that this is where our chicken nuggets
come from!” One security officer was at
first abrasive toward me, but by the end, he
said he’d keep the booklet, that his “wife
is interested in this stuff and would like to
read it.”
CAA’s
leafleting week continues! Mary
and Natasha, both first-time leafleters, were
a bit nervous going to Anoka Ramsey Community
College, but reported they’re “sooooo excited
because we were surprised at the responses.”
And: “One guy ran up to me begging for
info re: the Veg Fest in July. Another kid came
up to me and asked me if he could have a couple
for his class project.” Lisa
and I reached nearly 900 students at
Hudson Community College. It was an amazing
experience. Lisa spoke with three different
people who were interested in going veg. In
fact, one person said that they had been thinking
about it for a while now and just her being there
seemed to be “fate” to go vegan. Simply
amazing stuff! I spoke with a couple of individuals
who were curious about what I ate, etc. We equipped
the curious with Guides and had a lot of fun
with it. John
and I reached over 1,700 students at
SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Oneonta (where we set
a huge new record), and Hartwick College. I
ran into a young woman who got a booklet when
Vic was last in town and has been almost exclusively
vegetarian since. John ran into Curran [below], who said
getting the booklet today turned her into a
vegetarian.
Malcolm
X is always super receptive. Danyelle
talked with one woman who spoke about the secrecy
behind our food industry and the problems that
evolve from this. I had a student who, after
looking over the booklet, came back and asked
how she could get involved with volunteering.
A teacher approached me after receiving a booklet,
asking for several for her office to distribute.
Another student told me he knew a friend who
worked on a factory farm and would explain how
devastating the industry is, reinforcing what
a harmful environment it is for everyone involved.
So
many interesting things always
happen at Humboldt State, and today was the
same. A guy came back to tell me he was positive
he had received the brochure in Barcelona, Spain
(in Spanish, of course). A young lady came back
and said, “I checked this out, it’s
really going to help with a speech I’m
giving.” Then, I met Lauren, who went veg
after getting an Even If from me at
Canada College, over 300 miles south. We were
both overjoyed to meet each other; it was a
great moment. She says she tells everyone about
the booklet.
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