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Adopt a College’s 10 th & BIGGEST YEAR EVER! NEWS FALL 2013 ROCKING Summer Outreach for the Animals Dollar-for-Dollar Matching Opportunity Changing Lives Every . Single . Day . TEAM VEGAN 2013

Changing Lives - Home - Vegan Outreach ·  · 2017-04-23for the Animals Dollar-for-Dollar ... Opportunity Changing Lives Every. Single . Day . TEAM VEGAN 2013. PRINTED ON RECYCLED

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Page 1: Changing Lives - Home - Vegan Outreach ·  · 2017-04-23for the Animals Dollar-for-Dollar ... Opportunity Changing Lives Every. Single . Day . TEAM VEGAN 2013. PRINTED ON RECYCLED

Adopt a College’s 10th &

BIGGEST YEAR EVER!

NEWS ▪ FALL 2013

ROCKINGSummer Outreachfor the Animals

Dollar-for-Dollar

MatchingOpportunity

Changing LivesEvery. Single. Day.

TEAM VEGAN 2013

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PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

You can keep up with our latest accomplishments—as well as follow important news

and events, and see loads of great stories and pictures—through Vegan Outreach’s

weekly enewsletter (VeganOutreach.org/enewsletter). If you already subscribe, please

look for it in your inbox every Wednesday (be sure your ISP or Gmail doesn’t filter it).

And sign up for “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” (WhyVeganOutreach.BlogSpot.com)

to get an inspiring email every day—uplifting stories, more great photos (like this one of

John Jungenberg speaking out for animals at Comic Con), fascinating links, recipes, and much more!

We’re also on Facebook and Twitter! Thank you for being a part of all our efforts!

We’re sure you’ll be inspired by these pictures of people

whose lives we’ve changed, and some of the stories of

what we’ve accomplished together in the past year!

As you can see, Vegan Outreach’s incredible activists are handing booklets directly to new people

every single day—powerfully exposing the animals’ hidden plight and convincing more and

more individuals to make compassionate choices!

Every single day, our efforts together are changing lives…and changing the world!

You make all of this possible, so thank you for being a part of this powerful, necessary work!

Changing Lives Every. Single. Day.

Connect with VO Every. Single. Day.

Vegan Outreach’s philosophy is that each sentient individual has a right to his or her body and life.To that end, we promote living so as to contribute to as little animal suffering and death as possible, focusing on “preaching to the convertible” with our booklets. Since Vegan Outreach’s founding in 1993, over 21 million booklets have been distributed.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

FISCAL YEAR TOTAL REVENUE TOTAL EXPENSES

2012–2013* $895,186 $799,598

FY ’12–’13* FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES

AS A PERCENT OF TOTAL EXPENSES

Programs (88%)

Support Services (6%)

Fundraising (6%)

*Based on preliminary data

The Independent Charities Seal of Excellence is awarded to charities that have, upon rigorous independent review, been able to certify, document, and demonstrate on an annual basis that they meet the highest standards of public accountability, program effectiveness, and cost effectiveness. Of the 1,000,000 charities operating in the United States today, fewer than 2,000 have been awarded this Seal.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Matt Ball, Executive DirectorJack Norris, RD, PresidentMark FoyKevin GallagherSuzanne Haws

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT & PROGRAMS

Anne Green, PhD

DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH

Jon Camp

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

DESIGNER & RESEARCHER

Lauren Panos

ADVISOR

Steve Kaufman, MD

PRIVACY POLICY

Vegan Outreach does not share, sell,or trade any of our members’ information.

We’d love to hear from you!Vegan OutreachPOB 30865, Tucson, AZ 85751-0865

VeganOutreach.org/contact

Front cover photo: ©iStock.com/shironosov. Back cover photos: Vic Sjodin.

The students at Miami Dade College were

eager to get booklets. Time and again,

students kept coming back to grab

one after passing by; many smiles and

thank yous, and a number of students

also thanking me for doing what we do.

Several great conversations ensued—

including two extended conversations

en Español. The highlight for me was a

student who came back to me exclaiming,

“This changed my life!” while proudly

holding up her booklet. There we have it:

proof positive that the work we’re doing

is making a difference.

—Yuri Mitzkewich, 1/29/13

Above (from left): Jeff Boghosian, Yuri Mitzkewich, and Linda Bower change lives at Miami Dade College. Top (from left): After receiving booklets from Vic Sjodin in April, University of Dayton student Brigitte and University of Louisville student Geno said they wanted to go veg; and at the University of Kentucky, Maria let Vic know she’s vegetarian as a result of receiving a Vegan Outreach booklet last year!

Welcome to the 2013 edition

of Vegan Outreach News!

2 Vegan Outreach News|Fall 2013

Vic S

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Of course, you’re a part of Vegan Outreach because

you want to help animals as much as possible.

And now, from November 1 through December 31,

your donations will be doubled, dollar for dollar!

Each and every fully tax-deductible contribution to

Vegan Outreach will change twice as many lives—

you’ll get more power for your dollar!

So please enjoy these examples of what we’ve accomplished together—

and then please, pull out your checkbook to take advantage of this

limited-time opportunity to help twice as many animals!

Double Your Donation for the Animals!

Barbara Bear (above, leafleting UCSB) sends the top-left photo from an Earth Day event at Pioneer Valley High School: “A former vegan said she felt so alone in her veganism, but she now wants to go back to being vegan. She and her friend wereso elated to see our booth at their school. Both took vegan pins and put them on their backpacks immediately. They said they want to do outreach for animals too, so I told them a bit about leafleting and gave them each a copy of A Meaningful Life.”

So much interest that the night just flew by at the San Luis Obispo farmers’

market! A woman told Jeanie [Oliver] that getting a Compassionate Choices

at the Arroyo Grande farmers’ market caused her to go vegan. There were a

couple instances of guys saying they wouldn’t get enough protein if they were

vegan—I showed them the photo of Robert Cheeke in Compassionate Choices.

A group of students [bottom] got booklets and posed with the cow [Matt Bear].

I have a feeling there will be some new vegetarians out of that group!

—Barbara Bear, 3/28/13

It was great to have Vinny [Di Santo’s]

help today [in Midtown Manhattan].

We met a few young women who went

veg after I leafleted them at a high

school in the city, and now they want

to go vegan! I asked if everyone at the

school was talking about it that day,

and they certainly agreed—

a couple hours on a morning

here can influence an entire

high school of 3,000 to 4,000.

Another guy [right] said he

was going to go veg after

having a few questions answered. Lots of other good feedback,

and ran into lots of veg people from other states and countries.

Casey, 4/13/13

Last Friday at Oregon State, the highlight of the day was talking

to a guy who went vegetarian as a result of a VO booklet he got

two years ago. Had a great conversation with him and he got

a Guide. When I went back this week, I met one young woman

who was really excited when she saw what I was giving out.

She will end up being a voice for the animals.

—Nettie Schwager, 3/15/13

Fall 2013|Vegan Outreach News 3

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4 Vegan Outreach News|Fall 2013

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So far in 2013, activists across the country and around the world

have handed Vegan Outreach booklets to well over

half a million individuals at concerts, festivals, parades, and other venues!

Over 300,000 of these individuals were reached at this summer’s Warped

Tour, a concert series that travels all across the country.

Well before the tour begins, Vegan Outreach designs and prints a Warped

Tour–specific booklet, using quotations and photos from veg members

of the various bands who will be part of that year’s tour. Every summer,

Vegan Outreach organizes the

schedule, arranges housing, and

ships hundreds of thousands of

booklets for our crew traveling

with the Warped Tour. Vegan

Outreach works with many

individual activists as well as

other groups—including FARM,

the Humane League, Mercy

For Animals, Action for Animals,

Compassionate Action for

Animals, and many others—

to make sure we reach as many

interested people as possible.

A record 162 activists took part

in Warped Tour leafleting this

year! Thank you so much to all

the amazing leafleters who put

in long days in the hot, hot sun.

And a special thank you to all of Vegan Outreach’s dedicated donors.

If not for you, these booklets wouldn’t be developed, printed, shipped,

and handed to all these people. Your support is getting results every day,

with requests for VO’s Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating pouring in via texts,

voicemails, and online messages! Thank you for making this powerful

and necessary work possible. Because of your efforts and generosity,

you are changing lives every single day!

This year’s Warped Tour was amazing. We were received so well, kids

were really nice, and it bolstered our sense that the number-one way to change

the hearts and minds of society in regards to how we treat animals is to do

outreach to youth. Amazing to watch so many people so engrossed in reading

the booklet, and to overhear so many conversations about veganism. This work

is definitely a conversation starter; it gets people who otherwise wouldn’t

be discussing this issue, discussing this issue. The hundreds of starter guide

requests that have come in over the last two months are testament to the fact

that leafleting youth gets the goods.

Too many stories to relate

from my time on the tour.

Having Oli Sykes on the

custom booklet’s cover

has been huge. So many

kids say, “It’s Oli Sykes!”

or “Really? Oli Sykes is

a vegetarian?” Brian

[Zawacki] from the band

Rosedale—who play each

day on the tour—became

friends with Ben [Sylvester]

and helped leaflet as well;

Brian now plans to go fully

vegan! At the Minneapolis

stop, a member from the

band Silverstein walked up to Chelsea [Button, above] to say that his band

should have been featured in the booklet, since they’re veg. That was nice to

hear—bands who care about this issue and who want to be in the booklet!

In addition to the dozens and dozens of volunteers who took time out of your

busy schedules to join us in your city or to travel along for several dates, this

year’s Warped Tour wouldn’t have been the smashing success it was without

Anne Green, John Oberg, Ali Pester, Nathan Shin, and Ben Sylvester.

But none of this work would be possible without you donors on this list who

work hard at your jobs and donate to ensure that today’s youth are reached

with a message of kindness towards animals. We gave our absolute all this

summer to guarantee that your generosity did as much good as possible.

Once again, our most profuse thanks for making this happen.

—Jon Camp, 8/5/13

Reporting on the first day of the Pomona Warped Tour stop, Ethan Dussault (below) writes: “Of the 9,000 people who attended today, we reached 8,000. So awesome!” On the following day, the Pomona crew reached another 8,500 concertgoers!

At left are California concertgoers engrossed in Warped Tour booklets, and some of the amazing activistswho leafleted the tour. Top (from left): Nathan Shin, Sacha Vizneau-Sweet, Sarah De Munck, Alessandra Seiter, Katie Maguire, Alene Anello, Emily Glassman, Rachel Atcheson, Chace Stewart, Lesley Parker-Rollins, Ali Pester, David Meadows, Kate St. John, Ben Sylvester, Jon Camp, Lisa Hines, Rusty Zufall, and Aaron Ross at the stop outside Baltimore. Bottom (from left): Georgia Argiris, Stephanie Frankle, Becki Markle, Leslie Patterson, Jamie Jungenberg, Stephanie Lipari, Rachel Shippee, John Jungenberg, and Mary Jungenberg at the Milwaukee stop.

Above are Victoria Randall and Ben Sylvester at the Warped Tour stop in Mountain View, CA. At top, Amber Minnerick and Vic Sjodin reach

Warped Tour fans at the Dallas show.

Fall 2013|Vegan Outreach News 5

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Below is just a small sample of the feedback

that’s come through from people requesting

a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating after receiving

a VO booklet at this year’s Warped Tour!

I went to Warped Tour and on my way out they

gave me a little book with band members saying

why they have gone vegan. And I read almost

every single one of them, and I saw the meals that

you can have, and I thought to myself that I’m

gonna give it a try. And on the back of this little

book it had the Vegan Outreach information, and

I decided to check it out and try it.

—JV, Houston, TX, 8/5/13

I heard about Vegan Outreach at Warped Tour

this summer. Once I went through the booklet,

it really opened my eyes to the things that happen

to animals and really influenced me to be vegan!

—BT, Atoka, TN, 7/26/13

Brochure at

Warped Tour,

it’s changed my outlook on everything.

—HM, Elkhart, IN, 8/11/13

I heard about it at Warped Tour and I’ve

always wanted to become vegetarian so this

really helped me take the extra step!

—KB, San Antonio, TX, 8/5/13

I went to Warped in Dallas and received a

booklet; after I read it, I felt shameful for not

knowing as much as the booklet told. It has

opened my eyes, I’m grateful.

—SO, Huntsville, TX, 8/6/13

They were giving out a little book about bands

going vegetarian and why they did at Warped

Tour. Inside the book it had pictures and articles

about the transformation of animals into food

and it was absolutely terrible knowing how

animals are truly treated. So I wanted to order

the brochure here so I could give it a try of

being a vegetarian. So thank you.

—Anonymous, Houston, TX

At the Long Island Pride Parade,

I combined my dance moves with

the opener, “Info to help animals,

widen your circle of compassion.”

Outstanding reception rate!

—Jennifer Greene, 6/8/13

Right: Constance Li gives free hugs along with Compassionate Choices at the 43rd Annual Boston Pride Parade. Below (from left): Angelica Derossi, Elaine Vigneault, and Lizbeth Coronado use Warped Tour booklets to reach the many teens who attend First Friday Las Vegas.

After the Warped Tour

leafleters left my house,

Angelica, Lizbeth, and

I decided to leaflet the

First Friday crowd. Met a

number of very interested

people, and met teens

who said, “Oh, I got this

at Warped Tour. Can I have

one for my friend?”

—Elaine Vigneault, 7/5/13

Right: Detroit concertgoers read their Warped Tour booklets. Below: After meeting John Oberg at the VegMichigan VegFest in April, Stephanie Bay (foreground) makes her leafleting debut alongside Ali Pester and Beau Broughton at the Detroit Warped Tour stop. John writes: “Stephanie texted me after we leafleted to let me know one of her sorority sisters messaged her asking for advice about becoming vegan. She was inspired to try to go veg because somebody handed her a VO booklet on WSU’s campus! That ‘somebody’ would be one of us—this work really does pay off!”

Leafleting a Rancid show, David Coman-Hidy ran into Logan, who went veg due to a Warped Tour booklet!

Vic Sjodin met Natalie while leafleting Cal State Northridge; she went vegan after receiving a booklet at the Ventura stop!

Elaine Vigneault sends this photo from the Las Vegas stop:

“He said he agreed with the front cover quote. He says he’s going to try to go vegetarian!”

Aaron Ross met Steven at the Buffalo stop; he’s been vegetarian since getting a

booklet at Warped Tour ’12!

6 Vegan Outreach News|Fall 2013

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A bit of the other feedback on our

efforts together this past summer:

I was at an event a few weeks ago and

was handed one of your Compassionate

Choices brochures. After receiving this

brochure, I have become 100% vegan.

Going strong for two weeks now! I want

to do more. I’d like to volunteer to hand

out your brochures. Please let me know

how this works; I’m excited to help the

animals more than just being vegan.

—Anonymous, 9/9/13

Just want to say…I became a vegan after someone handed me a VO booklet after

an Incubus concert. Best thing that could have happened to me and my family.

—Anonymous, 9/5/13

I was at Warped yesterday in Hartford,

and my friends and I were approached

by someone handing out your booklets.

I talked with her for a while and was

horrified when I looked through the

booklets. I decided to go full vegetarian

and mostly vegan (I’ll ease my way into

veganism).—CM, 7/15/13

I received your booklet at the Warped

Tour in Baltimore. It has changed my life

for the better—I am now vegan forever!

—BV, 7/20/13

I am so happy I went to Warped Tour

and became involved in this educated,

cruelty-free way of eating. I’m working

hard on my transition. I will make as

many donations as I can afford for as

long as I can.

—BV, 8/7/13 (sent with donation)

Above, David Coman-Hidy reaches Warped Tour fans in West Palm Beach; and at left are more young people engrossed in reading their Warped Tour booklets at the concerts in San Diego (top two photos), Dallas (center), and Portland (bottom).

Solid night on Fountain Square during the Friday concert event. Most people

were very receptive to the literature. I encouraged the vegetarians I met to take

a leaflet and give it to a friend. The highlight was a young woman, who got a

booklet earlier in the evening, telling me the information was very enlightening

and that it “had a great impact” on her. She thanked me for being out there

and asked for a few extra leaflets to take with her.—Rich Sheer, 6/14/13

Big crowd at hip-hop night in Downtown Cincinnati—very receptive. One man

told me he read the booklet last time and it made him not want to eat meat.

One young woman came up to me a while after I handed her a booklet and

said that reading it made her want to cry.

—Jane Smiley, 6/22/13

Vic Sjodin writes: “Elizabeth [Freeman, right, leafleting Wright State] went vegan as a result of getting a booklet after a concert in Cincinnati a few years back and has been a powerhouse for animals ever since.” Below: Concertgoers get Warped Tour booklets from Ben Sylvester and Victoria Randall in Pomona.

Fall 2013|Vegan Outreach News 7

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A few of the many amazing activists who contributed to the Adopt a College program’s biggest year ever! Top of spread (from left): Julian Abrera, Chelsea Conlin, and Annoula Wylderich at UNLV; Unny Nambudiripad at UMTC; Gail Mayer at the College of Staten Island; Sen Holiday at UW Eau Claire; and Brian Grupe, Susan Pitts, and Aquila Nelson at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Good interactions at

CUNY Hostos Community

College and CUNY Baruch.

Met one student [right]

who has been veg since

getting our booklet in

high school! One person

mentioned the horse meat

scandal; I said it was no different than cow meat. He

took a booklet and agreed we should all be vegetarian.

One woman stopped to talk, mentioning her fur coat.

I commented that even

though I wouldn’t buy

a fur coat, I focus my

advocacy on food animals

because about 99% of

animals suffering are

killed for food. So, instead

of me criticizing her coat

and her possibly being

turned off, she left with

a really good impression

and knowledge to spread

to others.

—Lisa Drapkin (left, at

Stony Brook), 2/25/13

At Monroe Community College, Constance [Li] went

table to table in the food court, and a lot of those

people said they would eat less meat. One girl was

in the middle of eating chicken when she learned

about how chickens are treated on factory farms. She

hadn’t even wiped the BBQ sauce off her lips before

she said she would cut down on chicken. After a short

conversation, another guy pinky promised he would

eat less meat. Two separate people reached in the

hallways said they had been seriously considering

vegetarianism, and receiving the leaflet was exactly

what they needed to finally go through with it.

—Nathan Shin, 4/15/13

In the fall of 2003, Vegan Outreach officially

launched the Adopt a College

program—the first systematic campaign to

create a world that isn’t just a little less bad,

but a fundamentally better world.

That first school year, 98 leafleters

handed out a total of 81,779 booklets

on 174 campuses.

Working together, VO leafleters and donors

have steadily grown the program, with our

tenth year smashing all previous records!

During the 2012–13 school year, 539 activists

went to a total of 1,312 schools and handed

a booklet directly to 1,874,694 students!

8 Vegan Outreach News|Fall 2013

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Evergreen Valley College was Judy [Lindow’s] second

outing, and she’s really psyched on leafleting! Once

again, Diane [Gandee Sorbi] met a student who went

vegetarian the day she got a booklet from us last

semester, and vegan a month later, and is slowly

convincing her best friend to be vegan, too. Woo!!

—Brian Grupe, 2/5/13

On their last day of classes at James Madison University,

2,500 students were handed a VO booklet about

factory farm cruelty. The response was amazing—

many constructive conversations about factory

farms and quashing of

myths associated with

vegetarian and vegan

health. Many students

told us they wanted to go

vegetarian, and a couple

students [including Erica,

right] said they went

vegetarian immediately

after reading the booklet.

It was an inspirational

way to end the semester!

—Aaron Ross and Kate St. John, 4/23/13

From Jon Camp on Earth Day: “While leafleting Goucher College in Baltimore, Julie [below], a student there,

asked, ‘Are you with Vegan Outreach?’ I said that I was. Julie then let me know that VO came to her school a year ago, and she’s been a vegetarian since. Thanks to the tireless Aaron Ross and Kate St. John for doing outreach to Julie that day and to all of you who work to bring about a kinder and more just world for our fellow earthlings.”

More of our awesome AACers! Center of spread (from left): Ashely Monti at UMTC; Kim Christian, Sarah Hudson, Kim Carland, Rachel Atcheson at Salem State; Fred Tyler at UW Stout. Bottom (from left): Tonja Robertson at IUB, Jeremy Cleaver at Murray State, Giannina Gonzalez at Carnegie Mellon, Josh Kissel at UW Madison, Dani Reese at the University of St. Thomas, Matthew Glover at WPU, Meggie Townsend at ASU Tempe, and Ben Collins at UW Madison.

These incredible records were possible only because

of your past financial support! The synergy of donors

and leafleters is the only way this necessary work

gets done—and together, we have

changed so many lives.

Now, we’re entering our second

decade of this powerful, effective,

and necessary program. Because of you,

in every state, dedicated activists are taking

the plight of farmed animals directly to new people,

typically reaching thousands every single day!

With your help today, we’ll make the second

decade even more powerful!

Turn the page for more exciting AAC news! And to follow

this semester’s progress, please visit AdoptaCollege.org

Fall 2013|Vegan Outreach News 9

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BIGNumbers!On 8/28/13, Vic Sjodin handed out 6,000 Even If You Like Meat booklets at Cal State Northridge: an astounding all-time record for the most students ever reached by one person in a single day! Right: While leafleting Pomona College, Vic came across lifelong VO member Ellen Green, who (as a fourth grader!) was among the top 20 leafleters the very first semester of Adopt a College!

On 4/3/13, Ali Pester, John Oberg, and John Sakars (above, left) handed out more than 4,600 Even If You Like Meat booklets and over five dozen Guides at York University: the Canadian record for the most students reached at one school in a single day!

Having reached an incredible number of people this past year, John Oberg now rounds out the top 10 AAC leafleters of all time, following the Humane League, Jon Camp, Mercy For Animals, Vic Sjodin, Nikki Benoit, Casey, Eugene Khutoryansky, Joe Espinosa, and Brian Grupe!

Leafleting Leaders: Fall 2012 – Spring 2013 School YearNAME STATE SCHOOLS BOOKLETS

John Oberg AZ 209 211,687

Vic Sjodin CA 182 116,737

The Humane League PA 91 106,453

Jon Camp MD 109 104,265

Steve Erlsten CA 130 101,686

Nikki Benoit CA 79 79,470

Dawn Ratcliffe FL 129 71,639

Rick Hershey MO 53 71,490

Mercy For Animals IL 48 62,996

Brian Grupe CA 77 56,104

Joe Espinosa IL 30 51,615

Rachel Shockey KY 90 47,467

Karen James CT 46 46,311

Casey NY 103 43,102

Jeff Boghosian FL 73 37,039

Kassy Ortega VA 49 29,862

The Humane League MA 27 28,589

Lisa Drapkin NY 28 24,822

Nathan Shin NY 39 22,726

NAME STATE SCHOOLS BOOKLETS

Lana Smithson ME 29 19,325

Kitty Jones CA 23 17,452

Katie Pryor NY 35 16,999

Leslie Patterson IL 31 16,342

Aaron Ross MD 18 15,843

Diane Gandee Sorbi CA 14 12,753

Yuri Mitzkewich FL 15 11,748

John Sakars ON 7 10,920

Kate St. John MD 14 10,745

Rob Gilbride NC 11 10,563

Nettie Schwager OR 9 10,310

Cobie deLespinasse OR 18 10,201

Ethan Dussault TX 14 9,817

Sen Holiday MN 18 8,573

Ali Pester ON 12 8,410

Constance Li NJ 15 7,994

Shura Hammond CA 14 7,705

Jennifer Greene NY 9 7,557

FAST (Five Activists Standing Together) IL 10 7,200

Above (from left): Ali Pester, John Oberg, John Sakars, and Alex Greenwood enjoy much-deserved veggie dogs after reaching 2,800+ University of Toronto students!

Months ago when I was leafleting [Carleton University],

a journalism student asked me if she could interview

me about what I was doing and why for her class. I

did the interview and never thought much of it again.

Tonight I was tabling with my student group, and she

came up to me and reminded me of who she was and

said that she took a bunch of the leaflets home to her

boyfriend and family members. Her boyfriend has now

been vegetarian for three months, and she for one

month. She ended by saying, “It’s all because of you.

You made a difference.” THAT is why I leaflet.

—Ali Pester, 9/5/13

Nice conversations today

while leafleting Ryerson

University with John

Sakars. One was with a

young man [Tian, right]

who has been vegan for a

month. I asked him what

had prompted the change,

and he said getting a

Compassionate Choices

previously. He is interested in learning how to eat

better, so was pleased to get a Guide.

—Alex Greenwood, 4/26/13

Below: Dave Doctor hands out Compassionate Choices at the University of Virginia, where he and Jon Camp reached more than 2,400 students last spring!

As a result of receiving a VO booklet at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, this student now

wants to go vegan!

David was leafleted at Ohio State twice: first he cut down on meat; now he’s going vegan—plus he

and his girlfriend want to leaflet!

Ohio State student Alex received an Even If You Like Meat booklet from Joe Espinosa last year and

went vegan as a result!

10 Vegan Outreach News|Fall 2013

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School-Year Totals Cumulative School-Year Totals

2003–2004 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–2009 2009–2010 2011–2012 2012–20132010–2011

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

1,000,000

3,000,000

5,000,000

7,000,000

9,000,000

Above: Coby Pellatiro reaches Fullerton College students.

Today is the third day of my Ohio vacation. Over 3,600

booklets handed out so far! Jen Black, Stefanie Otley,

and I hit Bowling Green State University on Monday,

and then I leafleted Kent State yesterday. One student

at Kent said receiving our booklet in a past semester

had caused him and his whole family to go vegan!

—Leslie Patterson, 9/11/13

Despite the rain-shortened day, I had a ton of great

conversations at the College of Central Florida—was

actually shocked by the near-universal interest in the

booklets! Three people told me they now wanted to

go vegetarian, and one said he would work on going

vegan. The latter’s girlfriend had gone vegan to lose

weight, but when that did not happen she went back

to eating meat. However, he is trying to go vegan for

the animals, as he sees it as unnecessary to eat animal

products—noting it’s cruel when alternatives exist.

—Dawn Ratcliffe, 3/12/13

I spent the last three days at two Portland Community

College campuses. Too many great conversations to

repeat, with people asking questions about how to

move toward veg. Took pics of eight people* who have

changed or want to change their diet after receiving

a booklet. And three separate people said they were

really interested in leafleting/tabling. Wow!

—Cobie deLespinasse, 4/4/13

Grand Totals: August 25, 2003 – October 1, 2013Schools Leafleted 2,413 Students Handed a Booklet 9,844,832

After getting a booklet at Bowling Green State, Amerea Swanson not only decided to go vegan, but also

took booklets to hand out!

Vidhant, a student at the University of Western Ontario, read a booklet

his sister received two years ago and has been vegetarian ever since!

Henry Ford CC student Susan was shocked: “If I had known about how they were treating animals, I would

never have been eating meat.”

Just some of the lives changed at Columbus State Community College last April (above, from left): Jasmine was horrified at what she had been supporting and is not eating meat again! Jamie also wants to go vegan after receiving a booklet. And Rachel Shockey spoke with Mrs. Meier, a math professor who had cut back on meat after receiving an EIYLM in the past—she read a second booklet and now wants to go vegan!

*Here are four of the eight! Above (from left): the first student and his girlfriend went vegan, and his mother is eating fewer animal products; the second student doesn’t want to eat meat after reading EIYLM; the third student and his roommates have been eating less meat. And, as a result of a VO booklet, the student at right has been vegetarian for five years!

BIG Results!

Fall 2013|Vegan Outreach News 11

Students Handed a Booklet: Fall 2003 – Spring 2013

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Why are Vegan Outreach’s amazing leafleters able to take the animals’ plight directly to millions of new people?

Because VO’s thoughtful donors—dedicated

to striking powerfully at the root of animal

exploitation—always step up in a big way!

All the members of Team Vegan were incredibly

effective at advancing VO’s outreach—by running, leafleting, babysitting,

and otherwise getting active for the animals. We’d like to give extra-special

thanks to Team Vegan-Cat, Power Couple Bockman, Joe Espinosa, Leslie

Patterson, Laura Hart, Audrey Caplan, Barbara

Bear, Catherine Berlot, Brian Tomasik, Lauren

Farnsworth, Nettie Schwager, Vegas Veg,

and Johanna Andris.

And Team Vegan couldn’t have succeeded

without our generous group of matching

donors—especially Steve, Mark, Brian,

Steve, Yvonne and David, Peter, Ari, and

Anonymous! Your matching challenge

magnified everyone’s impact!

Learn more about these incredible people

at TeamVegan.biz

A few of our amazing Team Vegan members! Above (from left): Lesley Parker-Rollins’ kids Will, Maya, and Tyler. Below: Angela and Brandon Becker in front of Old Faithful.

The first guy I met at Norwalk Community College was a new vegetarian. He

took booklets and said, “I am going to share this great information with my

family and friends! This cruelty needs to stop!” Another guy said, “I’m all for

this…Keep up the good work!” Met Mario, who received a Vegan Outreach

booklet 13 years ago and went vegan! His girlfriend is vegan, too.

At Housatonic Community College, a student said, “I help animals: I don’t eat

them anymore since I got one of these booklets from you last year!” An older

woman came back and said, “I read the booklet. What is happening is a shame.

I am so glad you are standing up for the animals. I WILL cut back on animal

products!” Score! An older man walked by, stopped, looked at the booklet, said

his daughter is vegan, and that his wife is a teacher who may be interested

in this info and a talk for her class. He took my card.

Reached over 1,000 students at Dutchess Community College, where after

getting a booklet, one woman said she will now cut back consuming animal

products to twice a week. A security guard said, “Keep going, and good luck

doing the good work!” Eleven students wanted to start a group and eight of

them were interested in leafleting!

—Team Vegan member Karen James, 4/1/13

Great leafleting at East Carolina University! As always, I met vegans who had

received a booklet in the past and decided to change their diet. Nothing beats

the power of a VO booklet.—Rob Gilbride of Team Triangle, 2/18/13

THE POWER OF A VO BOOKLETTeam Vegan member Eric Griffith writes:

“I’d like to share a short story with you about the power of these booklets you’ve created and worked so hard to spread throughout the world:

“Last September, the University of Georgia held the annual student activities fair. Hundreds of student organizations set up tables to promote their causes and recruit new members. Our animal advocacy group Speak Out for Species had a table at the fair. At the same time, I handed out VO booklets to the passing crowd.

“One girl who took a booklet from me paused and then walked back to me. She said she used to be vegetarian but had gone back to eating meat, and that this booklet might be just the thing to inspire her to try being vegetarian again.

TEAM VEGAN 2013FORTHE ANIMALS!

12 Vegan Outreach News|Fall 2013

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n Ra

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(SOS

act

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Fun day of leafleting with my mom [Karen, left] at

Macomb Community College. We recently got some

pretty bad news about her health, but her immense

positivity has her turning sadness around and into

motivation to get out there and do something to

reduce others’ suffering. She’s currently wheelchair-

bound, but that didn’t stop her from smiling ear-to-ear

and offering a booklet to every student that walked by.

She more than doubled her previous one-day record.

We heard lots of supportive words and had many

wonderful, productive conversations with interested

individuals—which brought an even bigger smile to

my ma’s face. It was a VO booklet that turned my mom

veg, so she knows firsthand the power of this work.

She inspires me every day, and I feel I’m the luckiest

son in the world.

—Team Vegan member John Oberg (left), 5/8/13

“Since receiving your booklet, she did resume being vegetarian, then became vegan, and has been a very active volunteer with our group all during the school year. Next year, Jordan is going to be vice president of our group!

“Thanks a million to you for creating these booklets and making them available. They have the power to change the direction of a life in a profound way. And thanks also for providing the encouragement and positive example to people like me who needed that boost of courage to get out there and leaflet!”

At left is Eric Griffith, and at right are SOS activists (from left) Catherine Klein, Tabitha Phillips, Kirstin Valdes, Ru Bearr, and Jordan Alexander.

More of the wonderful folks on Team Vegan! Above (from left): Max Caplan, Audrey Caplan, Laura Hart, and Dennis Caplan. Below: Dan Kuzma and Mandy Tucker.

Leafleting the Cinco de Mayo parade was great—I was able to use Christian

Vegetarian Association booklets, ¿Por qué vegetariano?, and Compassionate

Choices. There were so many people it was easy to target the younger people.

I got a lot of “I want to help animals” or “I need to go vegetarian” comments,

and even a few “My friend just learned about this, and went like seriously

vegan” comments.—Darina Bockman of Power Couple Bockman, 5/5/13

This was FAST’s first advocacy bike trip. We traveled to Madison and Milwaukee

via bike and sometimes truck (due to high winds and harsh weather conditions).

Day one was very successful at UW Madison, reaching over 2,000 students.

We heard from a student who had gone veg from a VO booklet she received on

campus about a month ago! After UW Madison, we split up and leafleted two

local high schools. It was amazing—everyone was eager to get a leaflet and

was sincerely interested in the content. Kevin [Cooney] heard from a student

who had recently gone vegan and asked for a few more to give to her friends,

to help them go veg!

Day four started out at UW Milwaukee, and ended with two local high schools.

John [Jungenberg] had an amazing interaction with a student that started off

negatively; then after 15 minutes of talking with him, he said that he would

try Meat Free Monday! Jamie [Jungenberg] had a woman tell her that she had

decided to become vegetarian on the spot, as a result of our having given her

a Compassionate Choices!—Team Vegan member Rachel Shippee, 4/19/13

I can tell this semester is going to be on

fire with eager and curious students!

I kicked off this fall with Virginia State.

These open-minded students weren’t

even a little hesitant to grab a booklet

offered to them as “info to help animals.”

Had two conversations with a vegetarian,

and then with a pre-vegan who wants

to go meatless every day for lunch. Baby

steps, folks! Had a long, wonderful

conversation with a biology student who

was told every veg myth I’ve ever heard.

She was so wide-eyed when hearing the

truth, nodded in agreement, and was

excited to get her Guide after asking how to get started reducing her meat consumption.

AND…I broke my first record today—the new all-time high at VSU is 1,334!

—Team Vegan member Kassy Ortega (above), 8/22/13

Fall 2013|Vegan Outreach News 13

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At this year’s VegMichigan VegFest and Mad City Vegan Fest, John Oberg and Jon Camp met a number of people whose lives were changed by our work together! At top are Aletha and Matt Oberlein—Aletha was handed a Why Vegan? at Hamilton College in 2005 and has been vegan for

7 years now! Above (from left): Claire was handed a Why Vegan? at a music festival a few years back, and both she and a friend went vegan as a result; receiving an Even If You Like Meat at UW Madison in 2011 led Ben to go vegan; and Shari is vegan as a result of receiving a VO booklet 15 years ago!

Because of the dedication of our donors and leafleters, over 9.75 million

students have been handed a Vegan Outreach booklet, at campuses

across the United States—and in Canada, Mexico, and other countries!

Including outreach at concerts,

festivals, and other venues, more

than 14 million young people

have been handed one of VO’s

powerful and proven booklets

via the Adopt a College program.

You made Adopt a College’s first

decade a success—donors and

leafleters pursuing powerful and

proven outreach to students all

across North America!

Today, your support will determine how many new people we reach

together in 2014—and how many new vegetarians there are!

Together, we can make it the best year yet!

Jon Camp writes: “At a rest stop in central Illinois, I saw this truck full of chickens bound for slaughter. I walked by it to get some pics [shown]. A man standing by a different truck for a freight company yelled out, ‘After seeing stuff like this, you almost want to go vegetarian.’ Surprised to hear that, I told him that I was veg. He then let me know that he’s cut pretty much all meat from his diet, though he’s still working on pork. This has been the result of seeing too many such trucks too close. It goes to show that we never know when we’re going to find an unexpected ally.”

On the way home after handing a booklet to over 1,100 students at Michigan

State, I drove behind a truck crammed with turkeys on their way to slaughter.

They were packed as four birds per wire cage (looked to be 24" x 24" x 24" cages)

with no protection from the weather and wind. They were absolutely motionless

due to the pain of their overgrown bodies and damage done in the handling,

and no doubt fear of the experience of shipping.

While I have seen some pretty brutal stuff during my years in animal protection,

this made me cry. Let’s work.—Joe Espinosa, 3/26/13

At Southern Maine Community College, a young man who had worked at an

egg farm said the conditions were horrible; he described small cages, sick birds

with hardly any feathers, etc. Part of his job was to remove dead / dying birds

from the cages. While looking at the battery cage photos in the booklet, he said

conditions are sometimes even worse than what the photos show.

—Lana Smithson, 3/26/13

Marley [Francis] joined me at Central Piedmont Community College, where we

met Jessica who wants to get involved. She said she had goosebumps just talking

about what we are doing here! Marcele, a security guard, was excited about us

being there. She recently rescued a turkey that fell off of a slaughter truck, and

showed us pictures. She asked for more booklets, and I gave her a Guide. She

said she wanted to cut meat out of her diet and hoped we would come back!

—Curt Albright, 4/17/13

Near Bucknell University, I saw a truck carrying hundreds of pigs to slaughter.

Actually, first I heard them squealing from several hundred feet away. I’ve only

seen this stuff in videos—never up close like this before—so upsetting.

Feeling highly motivated to hit my next school to help end this cruelty.

—Chris Guinn, 9/10/13

My daughter came home from school telling me about Vegan Outreach, and I would love to learn more

about how to do my part in saving precious animals.

—Anonymous, Brownsville, TX (requesting a Guide)

NOW’S YOUR CHANCE!Open Your Heart &Dedicate a New Decade

to the Animals!

14 Vegan Outreach News|Fall 2013

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DOUBLEDYour Donation

Left: After receiving an Even If You Like Meat from Vic Sjodin at Miami University, Rochelle said she was going to get a hamburger for lunch but couldn’t, and that she didn’t see how she could ever eat meat again after reading the booklet. They discussed what to eat and what vegetarian options are available on campus; then Rochelle encouraged her boyfriend to eat less meat—both were happy to receive Guides!

A group of your fellow thoughtful

donors—dedicated to helping Vegan

Outreach activists break even more

records and change even more lives—

have combined their resources to

create an end-of-year matching pool.

That’s right—these donors want to

make your contribution go twice as far for the animals!

Please open your heart for the animals and give by December 31.

Your tax-deductible donation will reach twice as many new people

with the animals’ message.

You can donate securely at VeganOutreach.org/donate or mail your

donation to the address on page 2. Thank you!

Many great conversations at San Diego State, and quite a few people came

back to talk and ask questions after reading the booklet. Talked with a guy who

used to be vegan, went over some of the various excuses he’s come up with, and

gave him a Guide. He ended up saying, “No more excuses.” More than a few

people said things like, “Wow, you have just opened my eyes!” One guy came

back saying, “I had NO clue that this kind of stuff went on, this is unbelievable.”

—Shura Hammond, 4/17/13

This was our second year leafleting the MLK parade, and it was fantastic once

again! We reached nearly 1,600 people. There were quite a few good questions

and conversations, but the

highlight was when

Brittany [Staton] met

Lisa and Sam [right],

who have just gone

vegetarian—they

couldn’t support the

system of animal abuse

any longer! They helped leaflet,

and Robb [Curtis] is going to

follow up with them about

getting some vegetarian events

going in their neighborhood!

Another highlight: Brittany leafleted Samuel L. Jackson, and after he looked

at it, he went back and gave her a hug! I didn’t realize it, but he’s vegetarian!

I hope he looks Vegan Outreach up and volunteers with us and becomes a donor!

—Steve Erlsten, 1/23/13

Dawn [Ratcliffe] and I had marvelous experiences at both North Carolina A&T

and UNC Greensboro. Thoughtful questions, people interested in making the

transition, etc. Enthusiastic responses, such as, “Oh! I dig this! Thanks so much!”

“Can I have another? My friend will love this.” Two students were very excited to

get information from Vegan Outreach because they are doing a class project on

the impacts of our food system. We’re thankful for how many people we were

able to reach on this day—we sense a clear shift in how students are thinking

about vegetarianism, food politics, and animals.

Thanks to everyone who makes this life-changing outreach possible.

—Loren Hart, 2/25/13

Below: Happy Compassionate Choices recipients at an Earth Day fest in Woodbury, CT!

Thank you! I got your booklet at Cal State Long Beach three years ago. That was the last day I ate land animals. A few months later I stopped eating seafood, and a few more months after that I stopped eating eggs. AND I have now been vegan for four months! I have decided to take more action now and spread the word.

—MQ, 4/26/13 (ordering booklets)

Your donation =

more booklets =more vegetarians =

more animals saved!

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Fall 2013|Vegan Outreach News 15

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Awesome, epic, splendiferous day at Cerritos College! Reached 2,500 students—a new one-person record—and received awesome feedback. Four separate people came back later saying they wanted to go veg [two at right], another [Jamal, below, right] said he wanted to eat far less meat. Met a woman, Anna [left], who has been vegan for five years since reading a Vegan Outreach booklet her friend had gotten at a concert. Saw many sitting and reading [below, left], walking and reading, just epic. Met Magali [Cota, below], an aspiring vegan who helped me leaflet most of a class change. Mucha gracia, Magali! Lots of Latino Americans here, 50% maybe, so got to practicar mi Español.

Extremely tiring and rewarding last three days,* so happy to be back at it and getting all the great feedback on the ground. Thank you to all of you who make it possible.

—Vic Sjodin, 8/21/13

CHANGING LIVES EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

*On 8/19/13, Vic had a record-setting day at Irvine Valley College; Doreen Marciano helped leaflet on the spot, and several more students expressed interest in going veg, including a group of five women (top of page) and Mariel (below, far right). On 8/20/13, Vic reached a record number of Moorpark College students, including (below, from left): a woman who now wants to go vegan and help leaflet; Pedro,

who is now committed to going veg; and Andrea, who plans to drastically reduce her meat consumption. Three consecutive days, three new records, two leafleting debuts, and many lives changed—sparing many, many animals from suffering. And these are just some of the highlights reported by one Adopt a College activist!Together, we’re changing lives every single day; see VeganOutreach.org/feedback