BAVEG Outreach Fundraising update - good news!

May 20, 2006

Dear friends, Especially in the summer & fall, we are busy with outreach & education, including tabling at many street fairs & community events, as many as we can, depending on volunteers and funding.

A few days ago we sent out a plea to help raise funds to continue our outreach & education efforts to raise awareness of the cruelty of factory farming, and to promote a compassionate veg*n diet at SF PRIDE. We had a very generous offer to help us raise an additional $500, so we are expanding this fundraising effort to include Pride and as many street fairs and community events that we can. So, for those who have not yet contributed, donate now and get your donation matched! Chuck Barritt of Cupertino has generously pledged to match all donations up to $500! Thank you Chuck!! Chuck shared why he is supporting Bay Area Vegetarians.

"I know how important being a vegan is to my life. How food choices impact the animals, the Earth, and our health. After more than 10yrs as a vegan, and even more as a vegetarian, the benefits seem obvious. But it's important to take a step back and try to remember what started me on this path. Maybe it was that volunteer from a PETA booth in 1990, or reading "Diet for a New America," or an old friend who had that strange diet. I'm donating $500 for the Gay Pride festival because it's a unique venue to reach out to thousands of people who might never hear our message. It's easy to talk with people walking into WholeFoods, or those attending EarthDay or Green events. Those people are open a bit more open to the veggie message. However an event like "Gay Pride" has thousands of meat eaters that aren't thinking about our issues. These meat eaters might stop to ask: Why go Veggie? What about my health? What happens to the animals? How does food impact the environment? All questions we can answer, face-to-face, in an open, supportive, non-judgmental way. I challenge everyone to either donate time or money to keep these types of events going. Let's grow our community and share what we've learned."

All funds will go directly towards outreach and education efforts to promote vegetarianism and raise awareness about factory farming. To donate, please send a check payable to Bay Area Vegetarians, P.O. Box 371215, Montara, CA 94037. Please mark it "match". We can also accept payments via debit and credit cards on our website, http://BayAreaVeg.org/donate.htm We will be updating the website to include donations received and show the matching status. Thank you to the folks who have also been sending kind words about BAVeg, and suggestions and ideas for future events & activities. We enjoy hearing from you, as Bay Area Vegetarians truly is a member driven organization. After all, with free membership, and no real source of reliable funding, it's your generosity and the volunteer support of members that keeps us going. Tammy & Chris, co-founders Bay Area VegetariansP.O. Box 371215Montara, CA 94037-1215415-57-VEG-57 (578-3457)BayAreaVeg.org

Map it Veg!

http://www.frappr.com/baveg

http://www.frappr.com/vegetarians

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"This is my protest against the conduct of the world. To be a vegetarian is to disagree--to disagree with the course of things today. Starvation, world hunger, cruelty, waste, wars--we must make a statement against these things. Vegetarianism is my statement and I think it's a strong one." -- Isaac Bashevis Singer