I’m delighted to share that our hiring committee has selected a new Communications Coordinator: Sandy Hitchin!
Meet Our New Communications Coordinator!
lauram
Make a #snaptheveg video and win $25!
Help us spread the veg love by making a #snaptheveg video and posting it on social! We’ll choose one person each week to win a $25 gift certificate to the Camden Farmer’s Market. Check out our sample video and directions below.
Join the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge Committee
We need YOU to make 2020 the biggest and best Twin Cities Chef Challenge yet!
What is the challenge?
The Twin Cities Chef Challenge brings new vegan options to Twin Cities restaurants, which diners then rate. It’s a win-win-win as diners get new options, restaurants increase their business, and animals are spared through the addition and promotion of vegan options at restaurants.
The challenge had been planned for October. We are considering moving the date up to August.
How can I get involved?
Restaurant outreach volunteers—3 to 8 needed. These volunteers go to restaurants between 2 and 4 pm to invite chefs and managers to participate. We provide you with materials to bring. You’ll also drop off promotional materials at the restaurants prior to the challenge, and invite chefs to the final celebration. This position begins in June.
Specifics:
- Volunteers need to provide their own transportation.
- Commitment: An estimated 5-8 hours a week for two weeks to a month.
Restaurant follow-up volunteers—These volunteers make sure restaurants have submitted necessary materials (name of dishes, food photos, etc.) to prepare for our website and promotion. This position begins in June.
Specifics:
- Position can be done from home.
- Have basic spreadsheet skills and be comfortable with using email and making follow-up phone calls.
- Commitment: An estimated 1-2 hours a week.
Dining and social media volunteers—These volunteers go to restaurants, purchase the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge dishes, and post about them on social media. They also follow and comment on posts submitted by the community.
Specifics:
- Volunteers need to provide their own transportation.
- Commitment: An estimated 5-8 hours a week throughout the month of the challenge.
Ratings volunteer—This volunteer creates the Google form diners fill out to rate the dishes they eat and calculates the results of the votes using a spreadsheet to determine the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge Champion. They also help determine awards, which are given to all restaurants who participate. Begins in June.
- Commitment: An estimated 3-6 hours to create the survey, make edits, and compile data afterward. The 3 to 6 hours of work will be spread out over several months.
Social media admins—These volunteers put posts on social media pages for the challenge, and help plan social media strategy. Begins in June.
- Commitment: An estimated 3-4 hours a week, starting two months before the challenge and running two weeks after the challenge wraps up.
Please fill out our new volunteer form or email Laura Matanah at laura@exploreveg.org and let us know what interests you!
A New Community Organizer!
I’m delighted to share that, thanks to support from Animal Charity Evaluators’ Effective Animal Advocacy Fund, we are adding a community organizer to our staff: Tamuno Imbu!
Our Treatment of Animals Caused COVID-19. How can we get to a healthier world?
It is well documented that the outbreak of COVID-19 came from our treatment of animals.
The disease transferred from animals to humans at a meat market.
Our current worldwide focus is, sensibly, on slowing down the virus’s rapid spread. We would also be wise to lay the groundwork for the return to a healthier world.
We’re hiring a Community Organizer!
Do you have connections to and experience working with communities of color in the Twin Cities? Do you live a plant-based lifestyle? Then this position may be for you!
Read on for the full details and how to apply.
What’s ThanksLiving?
The traditional Thanksgiving holiday has many potentially positive elements: thankfulness, food, family, and tradition. It also encourages denial about the real experiences of turkeys and Native people.
We’ve decided to change the name of Compassionate Action for Animals’ traditional celebration from “A Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck” to “A Vegan ThanksLiving Potluck” as a way to refocus our celebration on the lived experiences, and resistance to oppression, of both human and non-human animals. Our goal is to retain many of the positive elements of the traditional holiday while expanding its meaningfulness with greater knowledge and action.
The 2019 Kenny Feldman Animal Advocate Award Goes To…
We’re pleased to announce the winner of the 2019 Kenny Feldman Animal Advocate Award.
We’ve created this award to recognize a person, organization, or business in our community whose amazing work is pushing the ball forward for animals. This year we’re giving the award to Shannon Kimball and the Bridges of Respect program. This volunteer-run program has provided free humane education presentations in the Twin Cities for twenty years.
The program has reached over 38,000 students since its inception. After a presentation about the program at the Compassionate Action for Animals banquet, one guest came up to program leader Shannon Kimball and said, “You presented to my class at Century College—and what I learned helped me commit to a vegan lifestyle!”
Originally started by Freeman Wicklund, the program was taken over by Shannon Kimball several years later, and is now a program of Compassionate Action for Animals. Compassionate Action for Animals will present Shannon with the award at Twin Cities Veg Fest 2019 on September 15 at Harriet Island Park. The award presentation will take place on the So Good So You Main Stage just after a performance from singer-songwriter Mary Bue.
This award honors the memory of animal lover Kenny Feldman. He thought animals were to be cared for and allowed to a live a life with freedom. Kenny was a close friend of Compassionate Action for Animals co-founder and first Executive Director, Unny Nambudiripad. He inspired Unny to become an activist. Sadly, we lost Kenny to suicide 19 years ago. From that tragic loss, we were moved to establish this annual award to acknowledge the contributions of individuals who strive to create a more compassionate world.
The Feldman family wants to thank CAA, Unny Nambudiripad, and current Executive Director Laura Matanah for helping preserve Kenny’s memory and continuing his legacy of being an animal lover and activist in animal rights campaigns. To find out more about Kenny, visit the Remembering Kenny Feldman Facebook page.
Help us raise $6,000 for the animals–and win a $500 prize!
As you read this page millions of chickens like Betty sit in windowless sheds, unable to spread their wings. Hidden away, they’re unable to share their stories and create a movement for change.
That’s where Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) comes in. We share animals’ stories on social media, in our e-newsletters, through year-round direct outreach done by our volunteers, and at Twin Cities Veg Fest.
By making a gift of any size you’re helping people learn the realities of farm animal life, and move towards a plant-based diet. And thanks to a special matching gift, your donation will go twice as far in reducing the suffering of animals like Betty.
On November 15 you also have the chance to help us win a $500 prize that will further our life-saving work! Every 10 minutes, the GiveMN team will choose one organization that received a gift to receive an additional $500.
Please take advantage of this special opportunity to help the animals and give today.
Twin Cities Veg Fest Community Tent
We are excited to introduce a brand new Twin Cities Veg Fest community tent! In the community tent a variety of activities provide the chance to:
- get to know other festival attendees
- have in-depth conversations with our speakers during round-table sessions
- learn more about healthy plant-based eating
- have fun
Read on to learn more!
Activities Planned
Meet-up/Tweet-up
Come to the Community Tent at 12:00 to 12:30 and meet your fellow Meet-up and Twitter pals for a round of “Get to Know You BINGO”.
Ask A Dietitian Table
Do you have questions about how to approach a plant-based diet? We’ve got you covered. Twin Cities Veg Fest has lined up several dietitians who will be available throughout the festival to help answer questions and provide resources to help you along the way to healthy living.
Twin Cities Veg Fest Photo Booth
Capture your memories of Twin Cities Veg Fest at our Photo Booth outside the tent. We will be inviting you to post your pictures using our hashtag #tcvegfest18.
Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) Information Table
Learn about many of the events, programs, and initiatives of CAA, the organization that organizes the festival. You’ll find many volunteer opportunities to become involved with cultivating empathy for animals and moving to a plant-based diet. Also, sign up to learn about becoming a mentor or mentee with CAA’s new mentorship program.
Round Table Sessions
We’ve lined up round table sessions that where you will be able to go deeper into topics you are interested in. These discussions will be led by our speakers and will field your questions.
1:00 – 1:30 and 1:30 – 2:00
Plant-Based Nutrition for the Aspiring Vegan Lauren Plunkett RDN, LD, CDE, and Owner at LP Nutrition Consulting
Why you are the right person to help animals Christine Coughlin, Minnesota State Director for the Humane Society of the United States
2:15 – 2:45 and 2:45 – 3:15
The Right Way To Be Right Cam Awesome, Vegan Athlete and Inspirational Speaker
(Tentative) Veganism on a Budget Julie Knopp, Educator, Writer & Non-Profit Leader
3:30 – 4:00 and 4:00 to 4:30
What Animals Teach Us, and Why It Matters Kathy Stevens, Founder and Director at Catskill Animal Sanctuary
Religious (and Non-Religious) Approaches to Helping Animals Mark Berkson Ph.D., Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Hamline University
by Vic Massaglia, community tent coordinator and Compassionate Action for Animals board member