By Toni Okamoto

One of my favorite female artists has officially announced her vegan diet on Good Morning America this week! Although she is promoting veganism for health reasons, I believe it is a good step towards introducing her millions of fans to a life that reduces animal suffering.

Ten years ago I became vegetarian specifically to enhance my speed and strength in running, and now I dedicate my life to animal rights. Even though it started out as a health diet change for me, it evolved into something so much more. We can hope the same for Beyonce, and for now, support her promotion of the vegan diet to the masses!

This semester, VO Outreach Coordinator Steven Litrov has leafleted 36 different schools, placing booklets into the hands of more than 25,000 students!

John Sakars, Alex Greenwood, Serena Catania, and I had a pretty huge record-breaking day at the University of Western Ontario! Lots of great interactions from professors and students alike.

Alex spoke with a student who previously struggled as a vegan and was pleased to get a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating and some suggestions. We both spoke to a sociology professor [below, left] who just had someone give a greatly received presentation on factory farming in her class, and she is interested in trying it herself with the help of the Guide and her vegan daughter and granddaughter! John spoke with a student towards the end of the day who concluded they were ready to make the switch. And I briefly spoke with a professor [below, right] who said he’s been using these booklets in his class for years to bring awareness to the ethical dilemma of eating animals, so I gave him some more!

To raise funds for next semester’s outreach, Steven will bike 50 miles for each donation made to his Team Vegan page and leaflet wherever he goes!

This semester, Vegan Outreach’s Australia & New Zealand Outreach Coordinator, Sam Tucker, has leafleted 34 different schools, placing booklets into the hands of more than 26,000 students!

Before arriving to the University of Queensland, I had been in contact with the UQ Veg Society and they had organized a bake sale and stall for the day. The Veg Society was full of awesome people; Joaquina and Cam helped leaflet with me for a bit but mostly focused on conversations with people. This actually worked really well because that way I could focus on getting the basic information to as many people as possible, and those who wanted to know more could talk to the UQ Veg Society.

A lot of people actually went to the stall after reading through the booklet, to ask about things like how to get all the nutrients they need on a vegan diet, etc. Cam was nailing the conversations: I overheard him talking to a couple of guys who said they only ate “local meat” – about the conditions on free-range farms, how animals are still killed either way, etc. – and the guys seemed really receptive.

I came home to emails from people asking for a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating, saying they got a booklet on campus and wanted help with taking the next step towards a cruelty-free diet. Overall, having the stall and bake sale worked really well as we could engage people at all different levels and even show them how delicious vegan food can really be.

Help create more vegans: Donate to Team Vegan and receive dollar-for-dollar matching today!

By Lisa Rimmert, Donor Relations Manager

Of all the tasty vegan cheeses on the market these days, Miyoko’s Kitchen cheeses are definitely among my favorites. On a trip to San Francisco a few months ago, I got to try several of their flavors, and I was blown away!

Luckily, Miyoko’s cheeses are available for online order anywhere in the U.S. – and what’s even more lucky is that during June, orders will support the work of Vegan Outreach!

Our friends at Miyoko’s Kitchen will donate 1% of online sales to VO. So you can buy cheese and support grassroots animal activism at the same time!

As if that wasn’t enough! Order Miyoko’s cheeses for 15% off this month, using the discount code VO15. I’m definitely placing my order soon, starting with the Double Cream Sundried Tomato Garlic (pictured above). Or maybe the Aged English Smoked Farmhouse. Or the Classic Double Cream Chive. Or…

Order your vegan cheese now from Miyoko’s Kitchen. All products are free of animal products and gluten, and made from organic ingredients. Thank you for supporting Vegan Outreach, and enjoy!

This semester, Vegan Outreach intern Carlos Contreras has leafleted 80 different schools, reaching more than 56,000 students; VO’s Mexico Outreach Coordinator, Emmanuel Marquez, has leafleted 83 campuses, placing booklets into the hands of over 64,000 students; and Mexico’s most prolific Adopt a College volunteer, Katia Rodriguez, has leafleted 10 different schools, reaching more than 10,000 students!

Today I had the chance to work with the owners of a new vegetarian / vegan restaurant at an event that was held where I study; this event was focused on environmental-related topics. They were selling vegan food since 9:00 am at the main hallway; I started leafleting after exams somewhere around 12:00 pm. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to hand out as many leaflets as I was hoping, since students were just taking exams and leaving home afterwards, but surprisingly, there was a 100% take rate, and 505 students and attendants were reached.

A good amount of people that received leaflets decided to try vegan food, so it was a win-win situation: they read about veganism and tried vegan food right after doing it; people were really open. Four people that I reached were already vegan or vegetarian, and some others – especially moms – asked basic questions about veganism, since their sons / daughters decided to turn vegan recently.

—Katia Rodriguez, 4/21/15

Today was an amazing day. We visited the BUAP with a lot of support from local activists. There were so many good things that it was hard to keep track of them: literally thousands of people reading the leaflets all over the campus, countless people asking for more info, and conversations that ended in people willing to give veg eating a try.

Aurelio [below, left] is a vegan chef that helps through developing easy recipes. Cesar [below, center] is a high school professor who after a long talk told me he changed his perception of animals and started to look at them as subjects instead of objects; he will start moving to vegan eating and took a bunch of leaflets for his students. Elena [below, right] was already aware of the plight of animals in farms; she is a vegetarian but now she is going vegan. It was incredible.

—Team Vegan member Emmanuel Marquez, 5/18/15

Support VO’s Adopt a College leafleting program: Have your donation doubled today! The more money raised, the more animals spared from suffering.

We’re excited to announce that Adopt a College activists have set a new semester leafleting record! As of today, we’ve personally handed a booklet to 1,061,466 students at 1,037 schools this spring semester. And the semester isn’t over yet!

This is the second time in a row that we’ve reached more than a million students in a single semester. Thank you to all the dedicated volunteers and employees who got out in all weather conditions, day after day, to reach so many young minds with the plight of farmed animals. And thank you to our thoughtful donors whose contributions make this work possible.

Set More Records via Team Vegan

Dozens of activists have been working hard to raise money for VO’s Team Vegan matching campaign. Thanks to their dedication – and to the generosity of hundreds of donors – Team Vegan has so far raised more than $61,000! These funds are vital, as they fuel our Adopt a College outreach for the fall.

If you want to see VO continue its record-setting outreach, please consider donating to Team Vegan today. Help us reach our goal of $150,000 – matched to become $300,000 – so we can spread compassion to more people than ever!

Give now at TeamVegan.org.

Through the end of June, 75% of your purchase of select prints and paintings from the Art from the Heart collection will be donated to Vegan Outreach. Let’s meet the person behind this art and this generous donation, Deidra Smith.

Tell us about yourself and your art, Deidra.

I grew up in Indiana. My art began as childhood portraits of Pagesus, and Flicka from the book “My Friend Flicka,” because my favorite books were about animals. When I graduated college, I studied with an artist named Riley Bertram, in Brown County, which is known for art. He offered to show my work in his gallery.

After college I decided I wanted to be close to Rocky Mountain wildlife. But first, I toured Kenya with The Humane Society of the United States. After that immersion in wildlife, I quickly moved to Colorado and spent many weekends in Rocky Mountain National Park. I never wanted to live anywhere else. The birds and squirrels I feed, and the cats and dog who needed a home, share mine in Loveland, east of the Park. Nearby lakes mean we’re also blessed with large birds from egrets to pelicans. We even had a moose staying by the lake one summer.

How did you come to be vegan?

I stopped eating meat because my parents took me to get a turkey for Thanksgiving, and I realized people were beheading live animals. I probably learned about dairy and egg production from John Robbins’ books Diet for a New America and May All Be Fed: a Diet for a New World. I saw John speak in Boulder, CO, and got the Denver PBS station to air his video. There was a lot of discrimination against vegetarians back then, and Robbins’ presentation was one of the best times of my life. He included a meal and talked about global ramifications of using animals’ bodies in food production.

Tell us about your fundraiser for Vegan Outreach.

From global warming to torture to pollution to disease, there’s no better way to improve and save life on Earth than by helping people become vegan. I’m trying to use my art to help do that.

Choosing to be vegan has the power to reach far beyond your life and time. By deciding to be vegan, you stand up for sustainability over extinction, you speak out for kindness over cruelty, and you choose hope over despair. Supporting Vegan Outreach is the ultimate declaration of hope that a just, safe and peaceful world is possible for all.

I’ve painted a portrait of Little Tyke, the real-life lion who woke up the world by refusing to eat meat. I hope you will support Vegan Outreach and enjoy these rare paintings and prints of Little Tyke and her friend Becky the lamb, along with the story of their friendship. You can also choose from a gallery of animal portraits and prints showing that love dwells in every heart. For this special fundraiser, you may also request a painting of your own companion animal or a subject not yet in the gallery.

Check out Deidra’s Art From The Heart here. Thank you, Deidra!