Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • October 17, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan Outreach
AAC Amazing!
Wow! Even though it’s only mid-October, Adopt a College activists have already reached more than 525,000 students at over 550 schools! By the time you read this, John Oberg (right) will have handed a booklet directly to 55,000+ students this term, and Nikki Benoit (left) – who has reached at least 72,000 students each of the past four terms! For reals! – will have given a booklet to 50,000+. One of our best behind-the-scenes volunteers, Dawn Ratcliffe (below), has now quietly reached over 100,000 individuals, as well as supplying one of our favorite quotes:
Congratulations to all leafleters and donors – you are changing the world every day!!
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Product of the WeekKassy: “Almond milk is an absolute staple in our household! Like many, I am looking to cut back the grocery bill and Silk almost always has coupons that I can print off right from their website! Silk Pure Almond has calcium and only about 40–90 calories per serving (depending on which of the many flavors you choose)! Almond milk in general contains more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than cows’ milk. So delicious and full of flavor without the cholesterol and saturated fat makes almond milk the #1 milk choice in our diet.” Please submit your nominees for product of the week via this page; previous entries here.
Notes from Our Members
After a little under three years
of volunteering, today at Winona
State is Day #1 being officially employed by
Vegan Outreach. It’s safe to say that there
is absolutely nothing I’d rather be doing in
this world than engaging in some of the most
effective outreach I possibly can, while getting
the opportunity to explore the continent, interact
with the public, and meet / hang out with some
of the coolest people in the entire world. I
love VO and the whole family of leafleters,
volunteers, hosts, and donors.
Jayme and some
friends
joined me and Jennifer [Greene, left] at Stony Brook U – we
reached an incredible 3,930 students! Several students
stopped back to say they want to change over
to veg; they each got a Guide. We gathered
the names of 17 students who are interested
in either starting an AR group on campus, getting
veg options into the cafeteria, and/or leafleting!
We’ve already heard back from one student who
is going to take the lead in forming a group;
Jennifer and I will back with support! It was awesome of Angelo to
join me for a whole day of leafleting at Millersville
University!
—Jon Camp, 8/30/12
Leafleting the Red Line station
was somewhat hit-or-miss, but one guy came back
after reading the booklet and said he was going
to make a change right then and there. He seemed
very honest and shocked by what he had read.
Just that one person made the entire time worth
it! Reached 195 students at
Fresno High in only 18 minutes! At Fresno City
College, I met a woman who said she was already
thinking about going vegan and was really excited
to get some help. Met a couple others who used
to be vegetarian and were interested in getting
back to it. A beautiful day and a few hours
well spent.
Lois and I had an interesting time
at the farmers’ market, with loads
of interactions. A woman took a booklet, then
laughingly handed it back to me saying, “My
husband’s a pig farmer.” I said they could
still read the booklet. The husband grabbed
the booklet and started looking at it while
his wife said, “Hey, honey, maybe you can
travel like you’ve always wanted to.” One
young woman said she was more concerned with
humans, but after talking with me a bit, happily
accepted a booklet. Two different people came
back and asked for a second booklet for a friend.
One newish vegan was happy to get a Guide,
an invite to our video showing, and a vegan
button which he immediately pinned to his shirt.
Met a whole family of vegetarians who were happy
to get a Guide and video invite. Lillia
[right] approached me to say that she’d gotten
a Compassionate Choices from me at
the farmers’ market a couple of weeks ago and
has been “pretty much vegan” since.
And her husband, who had eaten a lot of animal
products, is following her down the vegan path.
Yippee!
My mini-leafleting marathon included
the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
where almost exactly 20 years ago, Matt Ball
and Anne Green helped me become vegan and an
activist. Clayton [Carr, left] joined me for a few hours
and did strong work on his half of the quad.
I met him this past summer at Pitchfork Music
Festival in Chicago and found out that he became
vegan after getting a booklet from me a few
years ago. He offered to help leaflet, and the
rest is UIUC history! Awesome day at the University of Maine, Farmington! Super-friendly students.
An older staff member said she was very happy
to see me handing out the info. A student thanked
me profusely and wished me luck with the outreach.
Very sweet! A different student waved the leaflet
in the air and exclaimed, “Yay vegans!
Whoooo!” She proceeded to tell the person
next to her that she is vegan.
At Maui Community College, I
chatted with a woman who told me she used to
be vegan but switched when she got married.
She felt like receiving a booklet put her in
the mind to go back to becoming vegan. I also
had a nursing student come up to me and ask
for five booklets to share with her classmates.
And, as always, countless recipients started
reading the booklets moments after they were
received. The awakening is WAY underway at
Citrus College, where Kassy and I reached 2,200!
Students are always eager to learn more, they’re
droppin’ meat / dairy / eggs like third-period French.
It’s the stuff stories are made of.
Great day at Chabot College with Leslie! Interesting chats with students; met loads of vegans, vegetarians, and people who agree this is an important issue. For example, I met a big, strong guy who has been vegan for six months now and says it’s working out good and he likes it. Nice! Also chatted with three really tall guys (rockin’ lots of sports gear and gold teeth) who were really curious about factory farming. Felt like I was able to give them some good answers and pointed out specific pictures and what was going on in the brochure. They wanted to check out some videos, and one of the guys wanted a Guide.
Monday,
I was joined once again by the new superstar activist
Rashmi, who soon starts her senior year at Berkeley
High. This day’s leafleting pushes her to
1,600 for the month of August! Eleanor, my leafleting
pal from Sacramento, is now in the Bay Area,
and joined us at Las Positas College. We met
a number of people who are on their way to veg
or who have been thinking about it. I snapped
a pic [above] of a gal who has been veg a year because
of getting a booklet from us last fall at Las
Positas, woo! I also had a really nice chat
with a fella who was shocked by the booklet,
specifically the picture of the baby male chicks
left in a hatchery dumpster because they are
not valuable to the egg industry. He got a Guide;
I’m positive he’ll be thinking about
his food choices differently. Rashmi and I then
stopped at Merritt College. Even though it’s
a small school, the reception is fantastic and
the students are always so interested. When
I went inside to grab a drink, I overheard a
guy order a salad because of the booklet. Also
talked with a woman who wants to start getting
off meat.
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