It’s not too late to donate for the 2012 tax year. We’ve had a great a 2012 and we look forward to even more successes for animals 2013. Can you make a donation to help us achieve our goals?

With your support, 2012 was a very successful year of advocating for animals! Compassionate Action for Animals held our first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest, a ground-breaking event where attendees sampled tasty vegan food, learned about ethics and nutrition, and, most importantly, saw that there is a large, positive movement that cares about animals. I want to continue that success in 2013. Can you make a contribution of $100, $50, or $10 to help make this happen? Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, your donation will be matched dollar-to-dollar for up to $15,000.

I’m planning our second Twin Cities Veg Fest, and we want to make it even more effective. Our plan is to significantly increase the targeted participation and visibility of Veg Fest 2013. Our goals include attracting two hundred more attendees, bringing in entertainment that will attract a new crowd, and holding it during the school year in the fall of 2013 to attract more students and have more food. We want move beyond simply gathering a large crowd. We want to attract those who are interested in making real changes to their diet. And my goal isn’t simply to have exhibitors and speakers that are veg-friendly, but to bring the most engaging local and national exhibitors, speakers that communicate our compassionate message, nutrition information that is accurate and reliable, and food that is tasty, healthy, and affordable. With your help, we can make this happen.

The 2012 Twin Cities Veg Fest is one of the biggest events we have ever put on, with 1,200 attendees, 40 exhibitors, and 6 speakers – and extensive media coverage. But it’s not just size that counts – it’s quality. Our event communicated the gentle, compassionate message that helps people to take steps to reduce animal suffering. This event was overwhelmingly positive and our speakers and exhibitors brought a thought-provoking, respectful message to our audience.

Compassionate Action for Animals had many more accomplishments in 2012:

• We screened Farm To Fridge, a new documentary that shows the brutal realities of factory farming, to 368 people.
• We hosted our first ever Veg Week Kick-Off Concert.
• We distributed 10,800 leaflets.
• The Bridges of Respect Humane Education Program conducted 35 presentations on animal protection issues, reaching more than 1,000 students in local schools.
• We hosted our 3rd Annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off, bringing in hundreds of people to sample vegan chili.
• We added three national partners to VegGuide.org, Compassion Over Killing, Farm Sanctuary, and Vegan Outreach. This will greatly increase the exposure of VegGuide.org, giving everybody a useful tool to find veg options when eating out.

We did this and so much more. I’m grateful to all of the donors, volunteers, and businesses that contributed their time, energy, and passion to help animals.

Most of our funding comes from people like you – people who care about animals, and want to make a difference. Can you make a contribution of $100, $50, or $10? Your donation will be matched up to $15,000. You can make your donation online.

Thank you again for your generous support. We’re making a difference for farm animals, and I appreciate the trust you’ve given to me.

Yours for the animals,

Unny Nambudiripad

Don't forget Twin Cities Veg Fest 2012 is fast approaching and is happening at Coffman Memorial Union (300 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN) on July 14, 2012 from 10am – 5pm.

Want to keep up with the latest news and help promote Twin Cities Veg Fest? We post news items to the website. You can subscribe to our news feed by clicking the orange RSS icon on our website.

You can find our Facebook page and Take a moment to like us on Facebook and share our page with your Facebook friends.

You can find us on Twitter, soo. Follow us, tweet us and use the hashtag #TCVegFest when tweeting about how excited you are about Twin Cities Veg Fest.

Do you still have questions? If you want to know about volunteering for Twin Cities Veg Fest, email volunteer@tcvegfest.com. If you are an organization interested in sponsorship or exhibiting, there is still time to get on board! Email sponsorship@tcvegfest.com. If you have any other questions email info@tcvegfest.com or call 612-276-2242.

See you at Twin Cities Veg Fest!

P.S. Don't forget to pledge to our Kickstarter by June 15!

Please take your last chance before the year ends to make a generous donation to Compassionate Action for Animals. Your financial support will enable us to reach thousands with the message of compassion.

What will your New Year's resolution be? Ours is the same as always. We will do everything we can to help animals. When we contemplate the future, we see a world where factory farms no longer exist; animals are treated with kindness, compassion, and respect, rather than as tools or machines. But we can't reach this future without your help.

At Compassionate Action for Animals, your donations support our efforts to reach out to the public and educate them about the horrors of modern factory farming. Your support lets us continue our leaflet distribution, video showings, and food giveaways, as well as our many other outreach, education, and community-building activities.

Please consider signing up for a recurring donation. If just a small fraction of the people on this list signed up to give a mere $10 per month, we could give out free vegan samples to tens of thousands of people! If you can't give on a recurring basis, please consider a one time gift of $50 or $25 today.

Make a resolution to reduce suffering in 2012, and help make a difference!

Yours for the animals,

Unny Nambudiripad
Executive Director

Dear friends of animals,

I'm excited to update you on Compassionate Action for Animals' successes this fall. I am happy to say that I have not been overwhelmed with hearing about animal suffering but rather the positive response that I have received from people who have attended our events – and I'm elated to meet excited new volunteers!

Our obstacle to creating more change for animals has not been the supposed apathy of the public to animal suffering, but rather our limited capacity to engage with everybody who is interested in hearing our message and getting the resources that we want to provide. For every person that we gave a free vegan food sample at the Vegan Food Showcase, I know there are several more who would like to try a new animal-free food. For every person who came to the Veg Week dine-out at Everest on Grand, I know there are a dozen who would love to try new options at a great veg-friendly restaurant. And for everyone who came to our chicken sanctuary tour, there are many more that would benefit from getting to know the personalities of individual farm animals.

Nonetheless, I am happy to report that we had extensive success in reaching a new audience to welcome our message of compassion and to further engage those who want to help animals. Here's a few of the things we accomplished this fall:

• Handed out well over 1,000 vegan food samples at our annual Vegan Food Showcase. Read more about the Vegan Food Showcase here.
• Hosted Paul Shapiro of the Humane Society to kick off Veg Week. Read more about Veg Week.
• "It was surprisingly easy to not eat meat! I also got to be creative when cooking and tried a few really good recipes. I also realized how many vegetarian options there really are in restaurants." – Pledge to Be Veg participant

  Held two new Veg Week events: A Vegan Bake Sale and "Shop With a Vegan." The Vegan Bake Sale was phenomenally successful! We sold out of all the baked goods about half way through and met numerous people who were interested in learning more about factory farming, donating, and volunteering.

• Launched Where Your Food Comes From website to let people know about the cruelties of modern factory farming and started running advertisements. We received a generous donation to sponsor the advertisements
• Continued to hold regular Vegan After Dark events at night spots, free Cooking Classes, and Dine-outs at veg-friendly restaurants

Thank you for your generous financial support, for volunteering, and for helping us further the animals' cause.

We have our biggest potluck coming up! Please join me at our annual Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck on November 19. This year, we are offering a free entry into the raffle if you bring a written recipe with your vegan dish.

Please feel free to contact me any time with feedback, and I hope to see you at an event soon!

Yours for the animals,

Unny Nambudiripad

On April 7, Compassionate Action for Animals celebrated another year of advocating for animals at our 7th Annual Banquet. The fundraiser raised support for our outreach, education, and community building on behalf of farmed animals.

Over sixty five guests attended this year’s event, which included a silent auction and reception, a gourmet four-course vegan meal, and a presentation about CAA’s work.

The fantastic all-vegan, four-course meal prepared once again by Ciree Linsenman included Granny Tomatillo & White Balsamic Napoleon Skewers Sculpture, a choice of Hot Pink Beet Borscht with Fresh Dill or Tomato Saffron Burgundy Bisque for soup, and a choice of Sweet and Sour Meetballs with Garlic Almond Green Beans or Southern Greens and Leeks Quiche with Cranberry Lemon Sauce for the entree.

Following the meal, Shannon Kimball talked about CAA’s Bridges of Respect program, as well as CAA’s food giveaways and other outreach work. Sofia Huerter spoke about her passion for volunteering with the organization.

We’d like to thank those businesses and individuals who donated to the event:

• Ariel Abell
• At Sara’s Table
• Betsy Born
• Boneshaker Books
• Paul Busch
• Laurel Clift
• Marly Cornell
• Evergreen Chinese Restaurant
• Ali Glad
• jobangles (Josie Hamlen)
• Rachel Keranen
• Shannon Kimball
• Laurel Street Flowers
• Justin Leaf
• Cali Mastny
• New French Bakery
• Savithry Nambudiripad
• Pangea Vegan Store
• Jared Rolsky
• Joan Rolsky
• Joel Schneider
• Seward Co-op
• Suzy Sorensen
• Chelsea Strate
• Mike Tavernier
• John Thompson
• Triple Rock Social Club
• Vegan Essentials
• Wedge Community Co-op
• Whole Foods Saint Paul

And last, but certainly not least, dozens of dedicated volunteers helped the event to progress smoothly by preparing food, setting up, serving guests, taking pictures, and cleaning. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this year’s banquet a huge success!

If you weren’t able to attend but would still like to support CAA, you can donate online.

Narrated by Oscar-nominee James Cromwell, this powerful 12-minute film takes you on an eye-opening exploration behind the closed doors of the nation's largest industrial poultry, pig, dairy and fish farms, hatcheries, and slaughter plants – revealing the often-unseen journey that animals make from Farm to Fridge.

Using arresting images covertly recorded on hidden camera, this provocative film puts into focus the harsh reality faced by farmed animals – creatures granted no federal protection from abuse during their lives on factory farms.

Challenging society's views and treatment of "food animals," Farm to Fridge elevates our moral and ethical discussion about where our food comes from, how it is produced, and who is left to pay the ultimate price for cheap meat, dairy and eggs.

This film is guaranteed to change the way you look at the power, and consequences, of your food choices.

You can watch this life-changing film for free online at MeatVideo. After viewing Farm to Fridge, we encourage you to share it with your friends on Facebook, order a free copy to screen in your community, and request a free Vegetarian Starter Kit.

We hope you find MFA's new film informative, motivational, and moving. Together we can protect farmed animals from abuse, and inspire others to explore cruelty-free food choices.

*Please note that this film contains graphic and violent images*