Can you believe it’s August already? Summer is humming along. In addition to all of our social events and outreach opportunities, we’re busy getting the word out about our campaign to support Twin Cities Veg Fest. We’re trying to raise $3,500 by August 24. Can you help us reach our goal? If you’d like to make a contribution, visit our Indiegogo page. Together, we can make this year’s festival the best one yet!
Here’s a listing of our upcoming events through the month of August:
Follow the links to learn more. We hope to see you at one or more of these fun summer events!
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve just launched our Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for Twin Cities Veg Fest. Exciting!
Wondering why you should make a contribution to support our annual festival? Here are five good reasons:
- Twin Cities Veg Fest is free to attend. You heard me right. Thanks to our sponsors, exhibitors, and generous donors like you, we’ve been able to keep it free for thousands of people to attend since we started the yearly event in 2012.
- Twin Cities Veg Fest is an amazing outreach opportunity. We always make a point to welcome everyone, whether they are vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore. In fact, we estimate that about a third of the thousands who attend are not vegetarian. In one day, we’re showing all of those people how fun (and delicious!) compassionate living can be.
- Twin Cities Veg Fest brings the compassionate community together. For those who are already on board with our mission, the festival offers an empowering sense of community. Our values are celebrated, and we have the opportunity to make connections with others who are also living those values.
- Twin Cities Veg Fest is the only festival in the Twin Cities that features ONLY plant-based cuisine. True story! We have the only all-vegan festival in the Twin Cities. Yep, we’re special, and don’t we know it!
- Twin Cities Veg Fest is just the beginning. This movement for plant-based eating and compassionate living is thriving, expanding, and becoming more and more mainstream. Our festival is not only a sign of this upward momentum, but it’s also a celebration of the progress we’ve made and a way for us to keep growing.
Need more inspiration? Check out our hightlights video from last year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest and then, feeling totally convinced, make a contribution today! Show your support for the festival that celebrates compassion.
Is all of this talk about Twin Cities Veg Fest getting you excited about exploring vegan food? We have just the thing for you. Join us on Friday for our first-ever Eat Street Crawl. We’ll go down Nicollet Avenue (aka Eat Street) and sample the vegan eats along the way. As we galavant down the street, we’ll visit a bunch of veg-friendly businesses and share, photograph, and post online about the plant-based eats that we find. Let’s generate some buzz and #CelebrateCompassion. If you’d like to attend, RSVP on the Facebook event page or email Brita Bengston at brita.bengston@exploreveg.org.
For the Animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
Our Twin Cities Veg Fest is a tremendous outreach opportunity for us. In just one day, we’re able to reach thousands of people with a message of compassion for farmed animals. On Monday, we’ll launch an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds for this festival. We want to get the word out about the fundraiser in a major way. Here’s where you come in.
Take a moment to sign up for a our Thunderclap campaign and you’re automatically scheduled to have a one-time message shared on your social media platforms on July 20 at 1:00pm CDT. The message includes an announcement about the launch of our Indiegogo fundraiser. That’s it! It’s free and easy and enters you into a drawing to win a $25 gift certificate from The Herbivorous Butcher, Comfort Candy, Ethique Nouveau, Juice So Good, Glam Doll Donuts, or Vegan Essentials.
We need a total of at least 100 people to sign up for our Thunderclap campaign in the next 5 days for it to take flight. Can you be one of them? Help us get the word out about our fundraiser so that we can make this year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest the best one yet. We hope to reach more people than ever with a powerful message of compassion. You can help us do that with just a moment of your time. Join the Thunderclap today!
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
We’ve got a whole spectrum of fun events coming up this month. Here’s the scoop:
Also this month, you can join our Thunderclap campaign to help get the word out about our upcoming fundraiser for Twin Cities Veg Fest. When you sign up, Thunderclap schedules a one-time message to be shared on your social media platforms on July 20 at 1:00pm CDT. The message includes an announcement about the launch of our Indiegogo fundraiser. The more of us who sign up, the more people we can reach with the big news!
Signing up is easy, free, and enters you into a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to The Herbivorous Butcher, Comfort Candy, Ethique Nouveau, Juice So Good, Glam Doll Donuts or Vegan Essentials. Join the Thunderclap and help spread the word!
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
We’re looking for a couple more volunteers to be a part of the planning committee for the next Twin Cities Veg Fest. We need a Media Outreach Coordinator and an Advertising Coordinator. Are you interested?
Each of these positions serves as a vital part of the team that will help make this year’s festival bigger and better than ever. Visit our website to learn more about these leadership roles and let me know if you’re interested.
After last week’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of LGBTQ rights, I’ve heard a number of people comment they never thought they’d see this happen in their lifetime. We could say the same for animal liberation; what might seem impossible today could happen sooner than we think.
Each time a mainstream food manufacturer or fast food chain introduces a new vegan option, I’m reminded of this. I didn’t think we could make such big strides so soon. But the truth is, with the increasing speed of communication, we can expect change to happen more rapidly. As more people learn more about the effects of factory farming, cultural transformation is inevitable. We continue to do our work at Compassionate Action for Animals with that in mind. Thank you for persevering with us.
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
The 2015 Twin Cities Pride Festival is coming to Loring Park this weekend, on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28 from 10:00am to 6:00pm each day. We’ll be there offering festival attendees a dollar to watch a short video about factory farming. Our booth will be located between the dog park and the tennis courts. Stop by and say hi! If you’d like to join our pay-per-view team, contact me at unny@exploreveg.org to sign up.
Check out our guide to vegan food options at Pride. The list is not very long, but it’s nice to know where we can get some nourishing vegan treats while enjoying this popular community event.
Speaking of festivals, our Twin Cities Veg Fest festival comes to Coffman Memorial Union on Sunday, November 1. Be on the lookout for a fundraising campaign that we’ll kick off in the next month to make this year’s festival bigger and better than ever.
Also, another pair of “twin cities,” Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota, have been inspired to put on their own veg fest. Called the Fargo-Moorhead VegFest, this brand-new festival promises another opportunity to celebrate compassion in the upper Midwest. Save the date to join them at the Moorhead Center Mall on Sunday, October 14 from 10:00am to 5:00pm.
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
A bunch of us from CAA will be going to this year’s Animal Rights National Conference, which takes place from July 30 to August 2 at the Hilton Mark Center just outside Washington D.C. You are welcome to join us.
The conference offers 80 inspiring sessions, with topics ranging from issues facing animals, personal and organizational management, effective tactics, new approaches, reports on key campaigns, video premieres, and more. Both CAA co-founder Dave Rolsky and I will be among the 130 speakers from 60 organizations presenting at the conference.
This conference is also a fantastic opportunity to meet hundreds of other people from around the country who are out there taking action for animals. Social events include networking receptions, an awards banquet, and a closing party, plus post-conference protests and lobbying.
To learn more about what you might expect at the conference, check out this interview with CAA volunteers Dave Rolsky and Kealy Porter, who attended the conference last year.
If you’d like to attend, register soon and let us know that you’ll be attending. We’d love to see you there, and you’d be welcome to help staff our table. We look forward to being a part of this vital conference and hope that you can join us.
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
Truly, we can celebrate compassion each and every day with each and every one of the choices that we make. But there’s one day every year that thousands of people come together in the Twin Cities to celebrate compassion, and that’s the day of Twin Cities Veg Fest.
This year, Twin Cities Veg Fest is happening on Sunday, November 1. Our planning committee is already busy recruiting sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, food vendors, vegan chefs, and volunteers to make this year’s festival the best one yet.
Next month, we’ll kick off our Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to support this festival. With these contributions, we’re able to make Twin Cities Veg Fest free to attend, allowing everyone to participate and experience the joys of compassionate living.
Be on the lookout for ways that you can get involved, either through donating or volunteering. Twin Cities Veg Fest is by far our largest event of the year, and we look forward to having this year’s festival reach more people than ever with a welcoming message of compassion.
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
Join us for pay-per-view outreach at the Twin Cities Pride Festival on June 27 and 28. Volunteers offer attendees a dollar to watch a five-minute video about factory farming. At last year’s Pride, more than 500 people watched the video! This is a great way to reach a lot of people with a message of compassion. Email me at unny@exploreveg.org if you’d like to help out for any portion of the time.
To learn more about how to be an effective advocate for the animals, join us for a Volunteer Training Class on this coming Saturday, June 6. This day-long workshop at the CAA Community Space is free to attend, but registration is required. Register today to save yourself a spot. A free vegan lunch is provided.
Our potluck picnic is also happening this weekend on Sunday, June 7 from noon to 2:00pm at the CAA Community Space. Bring a vegan dish to share and get ready to have some fun. If you’d like to attend, RSVP on the Facebook event page or email Justin Leaf at justin@exploreveg.org.
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
Spend time with the compassionate community in the month of June. From a volunteer training class to a weekend camping trip, these activities offer opportunities to cultivate your skills as animal advocates, explore plant-based food options, and enjoy some fun times in the warmer weather. Join us!
I hope you can join us for one or more of these fun activities as we launch into the summer months.
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
