Enewsletter
 |
Enewsletter • November 14, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes from Vegan OutreachWhat You’ve Accomplished
Yes, it was just a few short weeks ago that we announced 18 million, but thanks to your amazing efforts, Vegan Outreach has now sent out 19 million booklets! Thank you so much for donating your hard-earned money to make this possible! As you can see from this graph, your contributions do make a difference – as contributions go up, so does the number of people we reach. The numbers don’t lie! Your support makes a difference!
Newsletter!A PDF of the amazing fall 2012 issue of Vegan Outreach News is now available. Take a few minutes to peruse the inspiring stories, feedback, and pics – we promise it’ll be worth your time! To receive a hard copy for yourself, or copies to distribute in your community, please contact us! The newsletter also has more details about the incredible End-of-Year Matching Opportunity. Right now, your fully tax-deductible contribution will be matched, dollar for dollar!
If you want the biggest bang for your buck, please make a special donation to this challenge – your support will go twice as far toward a more compassionate world. In the print newsletter – and below – you can read some of the payoff of our work together! 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 You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so very much!
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Notes from Our MembersOur
experience at the University of Maryland
today was extremely encouraging. One student
who got a booklet last year came up to us, gave
us a hug, and told us it changed her whole life,
that she is now vegan and her entire family
went vegetarian, all because of one booklet!
We even got an ex-vegan to give it another go.
A lot of vegetarians and vegans were excited
to meet activists on their campus. The best
part is, we were able to reach nearly 2,500
students within just a few hours.
Kathleen, my wonderful host, and her son, Seth [Keene, above], joined me at Minnesota State, Moorhead. Great conversations. For example, I heard from several students that they were saddened by what they read; I made sure to let them know that there was something they could do about it (and then Guided them). I handed two leaflets to two students and one said she got one from Warped Tour and thought it was great. The other said, “This is awesome that you’re out here, thanks for doing this.” I Guided both of them.
Good day of outreach at the University of North Dakota, Northland Community & Technical College, and the University of Minnesota, Crookston – reached over 2,100 students! I love handing booklets about farm animal cruelty to this kind of crowd because they’re likely never exposed to the issue in this way. It’s great that the booklets contain cited information from sources that these folks trust. I had an excellent conversation with a pig farmer about the legitimacy of our claims in the booklet. I explained to him the cited sources and why we feel that the standard practices he takes part in may not be cruel just for the sake of being cruel, but simply because they’re done for a practical reason doesn’t mean they hurt the animal any less. Comparing these standard practices that are thrust upon pigs with the horrors of seeing that happen to his dog really had him shaking his head in agreement. By the end of the conversation, it was clear we weren’t on opposite spectrums. We shook hands and I got his email and will be following up.
I
had a woman explain that she received the booklet
years ago and loved the meat-reduction approach.
She took a Guide and was excited about it. Odds
are she wouldn’t be eating vegan if Sen or Fred
hadn’t handed her a leaflet a few semesters
ago. Highlight of the day was handing a pamphlet
to a punked-out dude with gauges, saying: “Nice
gauges, dude,” then having him come back about an hour later, offering
to help. His name’s Garrett [Gjelsness, left] and he stood
out there for two class changes with me and handed out well over 100
booklets! Today at the University of Akron,
one student told me, “You could not have
handed this to a more perfect person,”
as she recently stopped eating meat. She was
very happy to get a Guide, as she said
she is not sure how to get her nutrition. Another
student happily told me that he just went vegetarian.
A few students asked about getting involved.
And a professor thanked me for the work and
told me he is veg but still trying to convince
his wife.
I think today at Naugatuck Valley
Community College was my best
day yet! Someone gave me an application to start
a student group, saying I needed 10 signatures
– I got 15! Got emails, too, and will put them
in touch with each other. Two guys stopped to
help, each taking 50 booklets to hand out. Met
a student who got a copy of Even If You
Like Meat two years ago when I was there.
He researched the info, wrote a paper for class
on factory farming, and went vegetarian. Later,
a student came over and hugged me after I gave
her a Compassionate Choices, and said,
“We need you!” She, too, signed the
group application and gave me her email. Exciting things are happening at
Armstrong Atlantic State University. I met an English
professor who is showing Food, Inc. to
two classes; he was excited to see me out there.
I also heard about a professor teaching “Ethics
in Food,” so I tracked him down during some
downtime. Turned out to be the Dean of Liberal
Arts; I gave him booklets. I met many interested
students, and talked with a number I’m sure
will be making changes.
Even 108 degrees
won’t stop us! A quick 150 reached at Fallbrook
High School. When the rush died down, I had
a great conversation with a junior who has chickens
at her house…as pets! And she loves them!
She has been thinking of going veg for a while
and is now definitely on board with the
idea, but doesn’t feel that she could be veg
since her un-veg parents do all of the cooking.
But as soon as she leaves for college, she is
going to kick those animals off her plate! At San Jose City College today, I think Diane, Kitty, Paris, and
I offered a booklet to every single student – and 1,643 accepted
– what a team! Highlight of the day for me
was a young lady who told me that she didn’t
pay attention in class at all, but instead read
the whole booklet very carefully and is now
going veg! “You guys changed me!”
Her words. Awesome.
My favorite interaction at
the farmers’ market was with a young woman who
didn’t want a Compassionate Choices,
because she didn’t want to see any sad pictures.
I offered her a Guide as I typically
do for those who can’t bear to look at a CC.
I also said w/o really thinking about it, “So,
are you already vegetarian?” This prompted
her to take a CC off the top of my
stack, as if to say, “OK, I do need to see
this.” Made my day. I was thrilled beyond belief at
how successful today was at the College of Staten
Island. Donna joined me and was awesome. I got
interested students to start up my AR club again,
and five other people interested in further
events on the island.
At the University of North Florida
and Florida State College, Julie,
Jeff, and I reached nearly 1,900 students. Very
moving conversations. For example, a self-identified
Middle Eastern undergraduate student told me
she had two pet lambs when she was a kid. One
day, the lambs disappeared and her parents served
her lamb for dinner. She got upset and her voice
quivered on multiple occasions as we talked;
I started crying, too. She didn’t eat meat after
that, and to this day, her parents say that
her vegetarianism is wrong. She now wants to
go completely vegan – I have no doubt that
she will. Another student told me that he ordered
breakfast differently because of what he had
just read in the Compassionate Choices.
A health sciences student talked to me about
getting involved in animal issues in Jacksonville;
we have already corresponded over email. Finally,
an administrator thanked me for the info as
she’s transitioning to veganism. Real
results every day!
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
