Last month, Vegan Outreach’s Community Events team organized some amazing events—cooking demos, dairy-free food samplings, iAnimal virtual reality viewings, presentations, and discussions. Read on for all the exciting details!

Victor Flores, VO’s Greater New Mexico Community Events Coordinator, organized an event at the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range military base, located in the Tularosa Basin of south-central NM. During Victor’s presentation, the soldiers, staff, and a few children watched the video, Draw My Life: A Cow in Today’s Dairy Industry, which was followed by a Q & A session. “We had interesting conversations and the audience was very engaged!” said Victor.

Everyone enjoyed samples of dairy-free products from companies including Daiya Foods, Miyoko’s Kitchen, Follow Your Heart, and several more! Victor and the awesome volunteers will definitely be back soon!

Roopashree Rao, VO’s Indian American Community Events Coordinator, and volunteers, took part in the 2017 Dallas Diwali Mela festival, which celebrates the Hindu Festival of Lights. This is one of the largest Hindu festivals in the U.S., drawing over 60,000 people, most of whom are Indian Americans.

Roopashree handed out VO booklets, food samples, and participated in many conversations about a compassionate lifestyle. Commenting on the event, Roopashree said, “It was BIG, and I just wish I had had even more volunteers!”

VO’s Greater NYC Community Events Coordinator, Nzinga Young, teamed up with Chef Naliaka Wakhisi, founder of NYC Vegans of Color Meetup group, and organized several hands-on cooking classes at the Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn, NY. Several elementary and middle school students attended.

Nzinga stated, “The curried kale and chickpea tacos were a huge hit among students and staff alike. Kids who were wary about cooking kale were eating it raw midway through class.” Nzinga plans to continue her cooking classes at the Brownsville Recreation Center after the holiday break.

Gwenna Hunter, VO’s Greater Los Angeles Community Events Coordinator, teamed up with VO’s Director of Outreach, Vic Sjodin, inviting pedestrians at Venice Beach to take a peek into the lives of factory farm animals via iAnimal virtual reality.

Gwenna re-told a particularly moving interaction from this day of outreach—“It was so powerful. One of our viewers, Corey (pictured below, middle), was initially laughing. I could see his demeanor and energy shifting after a couple of minutes into the experience. After he was done, Corey explained how he had no awareness of the cruelty these animals had to endure.”

The Community Events team certainly had a jam-packed outreach schedule in November, and the team is looking forward to December as we hit the ground running with more outreach opportunities!

Victor Sjodin, Vegan Outreach’s Director of Outreach, has been leafleting college campuses throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico since 2008. In this time, he’s reached over 875,000 individuals with a Vegan Outreach booklet.

Aside from his personal leafleting accomplishments, Vic paved the way for Vegan Outreach’s successful outreach programs in Mexico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Most recently, he’s spearheaded our expanding outreach in India.

Check out the video below to get a glimpse into the life of this truly one-of-a-kind activist—one we’re very happy to have as a part of the Vegan Outreach team.

A huge thank you to Eric Day, with Lively Days, for the production of this video.

“I don’t think it’s a radical notion that we can have better ways of living and thinking.” -Vic Sjodin

Thanks to thousands of generous Vegan Outreach donors, we’ve accomplished a lot for animals together in 2017!

Get all the details—and simple instructions for replacing eggs in baking—online now! Thank you for making this work possible with your donations to Vegan Outreach!

You can both liberate animals and earn $25 per hour for your favorite animal charity by helping the Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) leaflet a Winter Jam concert in your area.

Winter Jam is a traveling Christian concert festival that attracts thousands of young people to each event. It runs from January 5–March 31.

Peak leafleting time is from 5–7 pm.

The CVA will provide you with their Christian-oriented booklet, Joyful, Compassionate Eating and guidance. In exchange for leafleting, they’ll donate to the animal charity of your choice!

The audience is mostly young, very polite, and receptive to our message—and you don’t need to be Christian yourself!

Please check out the list of the Midwest and East dates (also listed below)—with the West Coast dates coming soon!—on the Winter Jam website.

To get involved, contact Lorena at [email protected].

Thank you!

Winter Jam Dates — Midwest and East

JAN 5, 2018 — Charleston, WV — Charleston Civic Center
JAN 6, 2018 — Louisville, KY — Freedom Hall
JAN 7, 2018 — Grand Rapids, MI — Van Andel Arena
JAN 12, 2018 — Jacksonville, FL — Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
JAN 13, 2018 — Tampa, FL — Amalie Arena
JAN 14, 2018 — Sunrise, FL — BB&T Center
JAN 18, 2018 — Reading, PA — Santander Arena
JAN 19, 2018 — State College, PA — Bryce Jordan Center
JAN 20, 2018 — Columbus, OH — Schottenstein Center
JAN 21, 2018 — Charlotte, NC — Spectrum Center
JAN 25, 2018 — Springfield, MO — JQH Arena
JAN 26, 2018 — Des Moines, IA — Wells Fargo Arena
JAN 27, 2018 — St. Louis, MO — Scottrade Center
JAN 28, 2018 — Tulsa, OK — BOK Center
FEB 1, 2018 — Mobile, AL — Mitchell Center
FEB 2, 2018 — Nashville, TN — Bridgestone Arena
FEB 3, 2018 — Atlanta, GA — Philips Arena
FEB 8, 2018 — Ft. Wayne, IN — Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
FEB 9, 2018 — Cleveland, OH — Wolstein Center
FEB 10, 2018 — Indianapolis, IN — Bankers Life Fieldhouse
FEB 11, 2018 — Detroit, MI — Little Caesars Arena
FEB 15, 2018 — Evansville, IN — The Ford Center
FEB 16, 2018 — Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena
FEB 17, 2018 — Cincinnati, OH — U.S. Bank Arena
FEB 18, 2018 — Birmingham, AL — Legacy Arena at the BJCC
FEB 22, 2018 — Tupelo, MS — BancorpSouth Arena
FEB 23, 2018 — Knoxville, TN — Thompson-Boling Arena
FEB 24, 2018 — Greensboro, NC — Greensboro Coliseum
FEB 25, 2018 — Chattanooga, TN — McKenzie Arena
MAR 2, 2018 — New Orleans, LA — Lakefront Arena
MAR 3, 2018 — Memphis, TN — FedExForum
MAR 4, 2018 — Houston, TX — Toyota Center
MAR 9, 2018 — Wichita, KS — INTRUST Bank Arena
MAR 10, 2018 — Bossier City, LA — CenturyLink Center
MAR 11, 2018 — N. Little Rock, AR — Verizon Arena
MAR 15, 2018 — Council Bluffs, IA — Mid-America Center
MAR 16, 2018 — Kansas City, MO — Sprint Center
MAR 17, 2018 — Oklahoma City, OK — Chesapeake Energy Arena
MAR 18, 2018 — Ft. Worth, TX — Ft. Worth Convention Center
MAR 22, 2018 — Augusta, GA — James Brown Arena
MAR 23, 2018 — Columbia, SC — Colonial Life Arena
MAR 24, 2018 — Raleigh, NC — PNC Arena
MAR 25, 2018 — Greenville, SC — Bon Secours Wellness Arena
MAR 29, 2018 — Peoria, IL — Peoria Civic Center
MAR 30, 2018 — Chicago, IL — Allstate Arena
MAR 31, 2018 — Lexington, KY — Rupp Arena

By Katia Rodríguez, Mexico Campaigns and Spanish Media Coordinator

A few weeks ago, Vegan Outreach’s Mexico outreach team—staff and volunteer—visited one of the most important private institutions in Mexico, the Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Together with the university’s student animal rights group, Comprometidos por el Cuidado Animal (CCAN), we organized a vegan cooking class for approximately two dozen students. The turnout for the class was amazing! In fact, CCAN had to limit the number of people that could be in the lab because of the high demand and the lack of space!

To help teach the class, we invited Sergio Carreón. Sergio is one of our wonderful volunteers who also happens to be a cook. At the beginning of the class, we all shared our personal vegan stories, discussed the benefits of a plant-based diet, and described how delicious vegan food can be. This got the students inspired and anxious to start cooking! And we were surprised to find out that there were already three vegetarians and one vegan in the class.

The students made lentil chili, black bean burgers, and vegan nacho cheese. We chose these recipes because the ingredients are easy to find, reasonably priced, and super delicious. Most of the students had little to no experience cooking, but that didn’t prevent them from making delicious vegan food!

We had a chance to talk to the students about what inspired them to sign up for the class. One of the most interested students, Samantha, told us she’s been vegetarian for years and had tried going vegan without success. After the cooking class, she said she’s never been more inspired to go vegan. She sent me a long email later on to thank the VO team for being so positive, patient, and inspiring.

Thank you CCAN for helping us host such a successful event and for all the great work you do on campus!

As part of our activist profile series, today we meet Brian Chavez. Brian has been involved in the animal rights movement for several years, and this semester he’s been helping Vegan Outreach leaflet college campuses in Southern California. To date, he’s traveled to 18 schools and handed out 17,743 leaflets. Let’s get to know Brian!

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I’m from San Diego, and that’s where I currently live.

What got you interested in animal rights and veganism?

It was an accumulation of many thoughts—I wanted to help create a more peaceful and joyful society, and I realized that respecting animals is an important step in doing that.

How did you get involved with Vegan Outreach and leafleting?

I signed up in 2007 as a volunteer to help pass the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act. The San Diego campaign was coordinated by Kath Rogers, who co-founded the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL). After the proposition passed, I handed out Vegan Outreach leaflets as a volunteer at many events hosted by APRL. I liked leafleting so much, I started ordering them from the Vegan Outreach website.

Do you have a favorite leafleting moment to share?

One time, a student told me she’d decided to go vegan after reading the leaflet I’d given to her. When I asked to take her picture for the Vegan Outreach e-newsletter, she agreed and then proceeded to ask her friend—who was walking alongside—to go vegetarian. Her friend said yes, and I ended up taking a picture of both of them!

What do you do for fun when you’re not leafleting?

I like to hike, bike, go out to eat, and listen to music. I also love to play board games, soccer, and the guitar.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add about leafleting?

When it’s slow and a student stops to tell me they’ve read the leaflet, I like to ask what their thoughts are on the subject and briefly respond if they have concerns. I’ve also found that many people are very close to going veg. Overall, leafleting is a great way for vegans to volunteer together, prevent burnout, and get new people interested in volunteering!

Can you tell us one of your favorite vegan products to share with our readers?

I like the Black Bean Tamale Verde frozen meal by Amy’s Kitchen.

By Lori Stultz, Communications Manager

One of the most rewarding parts of working for Vegan Outreach is hearing from people who’ve received one of our leaflets and changed their eating habits in efforts to reduce the harm done to animals who are killed for food.

Less frequently, we hear from people who’ve received one of our leaflets and were inspired to sell their business, buy farmland, and start their own all-natural, vegan cosmetic and hygiene product line. However, that’s exactly what founder of the Natural Vegan, Jaymie Friesen, did! And now we get to help him and his business partner, Hannah Christian, share their success story. Watch the videos below to get all the details!

I’ve had the opportunity to try various Natural Vegan products, and I can honestly say that I love everything about them! They’re light and fresh, and I love knowing that the mission and values of the company are right in line with my own.

The coolest part? Jaymie and Hannah want you to try their products, too! Visit their website and sign up to receive free samples to let them know what you think!