By Victor Sjodin, Director of International Outreach

On Saturday night, June 13, Vegan Outreach held a fundraiser with nearby supporters of Vegan Outreach at Board Member Yvonne Legrice’s house in Pasadena, California. It was great to meet so many people who sacrifice for the animals and who comprise Vegan Outreach. It is really amazing to know that all the good Vegan Outreach does is because of thousands of people giving what they can to be a part of something greater. Together we are strong and an engine of social change.

There was great food and lots of socializing. Jon Camp and Jack Norris briefly spoke about what’s been going on with VO: how we are expanding to other nations, reaching more students than ever with well over a million college students reached again this spring, and the success of the new Compassionate Athlete Booklet (85,000 have been shipped out). Our new Mexico program is on pace to reach 380,000 students in its first year. Our vegan mentor program has over 200 people mentoring so far, we are getting thousands of people writing in and saying they are going vegan because of our booklets, and the new booklet designs for Your Choice and Compassionate Choices are getting a phenomenal response from students.

Kimberly Moffatt spoke briefly about what it’s like to volunteer with VO and why she does it, “I know a few hours of my life can change several dozen students lives forever.” Several attendees expressed interest in leafleting.

Jack then introduced me to speak and surprised me by saying, “and Vic Sjodin is our new, from this day forward, Director of International Outreach.” That was moving for me, as expanding our work for the animals is a life mission of mine. I spoke about how, when asked who I work for by campus security once, I answered that I work for animals trapped on factory farms. I spoke about how each booklet is not really a piece of paper to me, but a gift – an invitation to a greater consciousness, to health, to less cruelty, to sustainability, to being part of the solution.

Lastly, we asked for help in getting new programs off the ground, and the attending VO members were very generous of heart and wallet for the animals. With more funds, we are close to expanding to Europe and South America. It was a great evening on all accounts and I felt a sense of unity – that we are all united to do what we can to bring veganism to a world that desperately needs it. Thank you for being a part of Vegan Outreach! Upward, onward and plant ward!

Here’s a peek of what went on:

The 2015 Mad City Vegan Fest in Madison, WI was an amazing event. The place was packed which is pretty impressive for a state known for it’s dairy consumption.

By Kassy Ortega, Outreach Coordinator

Since June 19th, five folks from Vegan Outreach and The Humane League have been traveling the country handing out thousands and thousands of leaflets promoting vegan eating! Since the night we hit the road to present day (less than halfway through), we have already reached over 114,000 individuals with a message of compassion.

Of the hundreds of thousands we have reached, here are a few who have let us know their lives have been changed:

Autumn (above) received a booklet from the crew at our Orlando date. The date completely rained out, but we kept leafleting. While leafleting at Jacksonville, my tourmate José Elias handed Autumn a booklet. She enthusiastically told José her family is vegan, and that she has received the booklets before in the past. She proudly let us know the booklet we handed her in Orlando has inspired her to finally go veg! It made leafleting in a near-hurricane totally worth it!

JD received a leaflet two years ago and read through the entire pamphlet. Six months after he read our pamphlet, he has stopped eating animals entirely!

Rick and his daughter received a Vegan Outreach booklet last year at Warped Tour and let us know that as a result, they both went vegetarian!

Hundreds of requests for our Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating have been pouring in as a result of the team’s relentless leafleting. If youd like to be a part of this effective work and join us for a Warped Tour date in your city or be notified of Vegan Outreach in your area, please email [email protected]

By Toni Okamoto

On July 8th, the ban on wild animals performing in circuses will take effect in Mexico — making them the 29th country to pass this national ban. The ban includes tigers, elephants, zebras, lions, baboons, and camels. The penalty for continuing to use them as entertainment is $225,000!

There are currently an estimated 3,500 animals who will be affected by the ban, and the Mexican government is now working on finding adequate placement for retiring animals.

By Lisa Rimmert, Donor Relations Manager

The past two months have shown me how much can be accomplished by a team of dedicated people. Thanks to more than 100 Team Vegan members and over 800 contributors, $160,000 was raised during May and June. And these funds will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a group of very committed supporters, meaning $320,000 will go toward outreach for animals this year!

The Team Vegan campaign was such a joy! You all came together for a cause you’re passionate about – a cause you know is important. When you easily could have said, “Someone else will do it,” you stepped up. You understood that we are stronger together than we are alone – and then you proved it. Thank you.

Only one thing could match the joy that brings me: The work we will do with the money raised! Our Outreach Coordinators and hundreds of volunteers hand out booklets by the millions – in urban and remote areas all over the world. They inspire more and more people to adopt cruelty-free lifestyles, reducing the number of animals who will suffer on factory farms.

You make this possible!

Thank you for making Team Vegan a huge success!

More than 100 Team Vegan members have raised over $130,000 since May 1, and there are only two days left!

Get in on the fun by donating today to your favorite Team Vegan member.

We’re so close to meeting our goal of $150,000 – which will all be doubled by a few very generous donors! Farmed animals need your help now – please consider donating what you can to Team Vegan today.

Giving today is:

• Easy: Even $10 helps! That’s just a couple of soy lattes!
• Safe: Our online form is secure, and we never share donor info with other groups.
• Fun: Look through a few profiles to see what I mean!
• Important: Here’s just one example of what you make possible by donating.

We have two days left to raise $150,000 for grassroots outreach for animals. Thank you for considering a donation today!

And thank you to everyone who has already contributed!

Since May 1st, the dedicated members of Team Vegan have raised over $123,000 for animals. We are so close to reaching our goal of $150,000, which will be doubled to total $300,000! But we only have one week left, and we need your help now to expand our reach for animals!

Team Vegan funds are what fuels our Fall outreach, and we need the full $300,000 if we want to reach the most people possible.

In Fall 2014, we set a semester record of over one million people reached with a VO booklet. That means a million more people were exposed to the truth about animal agribusiness. A million more people learned that there’s a more compassionate way to eat and to live.

We hear every day from individuals who are making changes, taking steps toward cruelty-free living. But our work is far from over. There are so many people left to reach, and we can reach them – with your help!

Donate now to one of our hardworking Team Vegan members.

Thank you!

Monster record day here at California State University in Los Angeles: Becca Balvin, Fabienne Origer, Leron Rabinowiz, Nicole Casares, Kim Moffatt, and I [below] handed out 5,140 Vegan Outreach booklets. No cakewalk either – a lot of grinding it out alone; and the troops even got a bit cranky as we didn’t have water and didn’t wanna miss anyone, lol, so had to make them wait a bit.

I met Becca [below] at Whole Foods: I was just chatting it up with the cashier, and voila – now we are friends, and she is a VO volunteer and wants to leaflet more. She did great her first time out.

Approximately the fourth person Becca handed a leaflet to was Janiece [below, left], who casually mentioned, “Thanks, don’t need one, been veg since I got one of these a long time ago.” I was like, “Really? No way! Where did you get one?” And she told us, and I asked to record her on video real quick.

We also ran into Christine [below, right], who has been veg since getting a booklet and seeing Vegucated and Food, Inc. She credits a vegan diet to having more energy, being healthier, and shedding 40 pounds. She is encouraging her social circle to give it a go and asked to take more literature to show others! She’s also interested in leafleting with us.

Leron met another student who wants to leaflet, and I am emailing her. Many others stopped to talk and ask questions. I met two Catholic students who I had a long talk with and both were fascinated, and more or less expressed they had never thought about veganism in that way and were very sincere and kind and interested in veg eating, and it was a moving interaction for me.

We saw literally a fantastic amount of students reading down the line from where they got a booklet. Especially powerful and enthusing to me is seeing all the athletes engrossed in the new Compassionate Athlete booklet; it is unreal. A total game changer – I had no idea how powerful it would be and how much athletes identify with it, and how easily it dispels some of the central rationalizations and myths about why athletes can’t go vegan.

Support VO’s Adopt a College leafleting program:
Have your donation doubled today!