A Flurry of Activity With 100% Chance of Helping Animals

Dallas and Max the beagleThank you to all of you who made donations to ARC in 2012. If you meant to make a contribution before the end of the year, but time got away from you, no worries. Make your donation to ARC now and feel good about starting the New Year off right!

The start of a new year is often a time for reflection. I was thinking about what makes the Animal Rights Coalition so unique and why the work we do for animals continues to inspire me daily. Here are five things that make me proud to be part of an organization like ARC:

  • We made a significant dent in the culture of violence that is animal research by working to ban pound seizure in Minnesota (signed into law and banned in April 2012!), by exposing Marilyn Carroll’s primate addiction experiments at the U of M, and by bringing unwanted attention to the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science’s national convention with a demonstration attended by over 100 people.
  • We created a sense of community among Minnesotans who care about animals.  Our Meetup group grew to over 600 members, with over 75 activities this year, providing a vital sense of community and opportunities for people to learn more about animal rights and a plant-based diet. Our Ethique Nouveau store not only provided a space where people could feel comfortable, but also proved to the larger community that a significant number of people want to use harm-free products made without the use of animal testing, ingredients, skins, or furs.
  • We connected thousands of people with the message that Animals Matter for their own reasons. Our dedicated Outreach Team handed out a total of 13,029 pieces of literature at locations all over the metro area: the Minnesota State Fair, U of M, North Minneapolis, Uptown, Downtown, and at events like the Women of Faith conference, after concerts at First Avenue and the Target Center, and at the Pet Expo, Pride Festival, Living Green Expo, Birth & Baby Expo, and Education Minnesota conference.
  • We helped to shape a new generation of children who will grow up learning to value and respect animals through our VegKins families program, which has grown to over 30 participating families. We reached educators who will be teaching these children with 660 free lesson plans and resource kits. Read the MN Parent article on ARC’s VegKins program.
  • We came up with creative, innovative ways to promote plant-based eating. For example, we gave out over 500 samples of vegan burgers and brats with all the fixings and information about animals used in the food system at U of M Gopher football tailgating events – a surprisingly receptive audience, and we’re going to be holding a new Vegan Hot Dish Cook-off event this February. Our Pay Per View and Vegan University programs pioneered the PPV, vegan mentor, and vegan shopping tour concepts in Minnesota and we’ve had over 600 powerful conversations with people about the experiences of animals used for food. See what VegFund has to say about our Vegan University program.

I hope reading this list moves and inspires you as much as it does me. We so appreciate not only your support, but also your vote of confidence in our work for animals. With people like you on our side, we look forward to making even more of a difference in the year ahead, not only for animals, but also in the lives of all the people we reach.

Dallas Rising
Program Director