Subscribe to
ARC's Google Calendar
for volunteer opportunities!

Sign up to receive
our monthly volunteer email!

Sign up to receive
our monthly e-newsletter!

April 12th, 2016

***Update: Thanks to everyone who donated treats to the bake sale and all the folks who stopped by the sale! We saw lots of new visitors, gave out a ton of info about plant-based eating, and will be able to send People and Pets Together a $450 donation for their pet food shelf. People and Pets Together is Minnesota’s first fully dedicated pet food shelf and resource center, and one of the nation’s first companion animal surrender prevention programs, offering assistance to families during economic hardship to enable them to keep their companion animals.***

It’s that time of year again! The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale-Twin Cities Style is a delicious and fun way to introduce friends and family to vegan baked goods. Stop by Ethique Nouveau, 317 West 48th St. in Minneapolis from 1:00-4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 and stock up on vegan goodies.

Bring a container to haul your loot home because we’ll be charging for boxes to make the event as waste-free as possible.

Please email chelsea@animalrightscoalition.com if you would like to donate baked goods. Make a list of the ingredients to display with your goodies so that allergy sufferers are well-informed. Items should be pre-wrapped or cut so that they’re easier to divvy up. You can drop off baked good donations between 12:00-12:45 a.m. on the day of the sale or between noon-6:00 p.m. the day before the sale.

March 26th, 2016

Fun times and great food were enjoyed by all at ARC’s Fourth Annual Vegan Hotdish Cookoff. From dal and curry to brinner and lasagna, there was a little of everything for everyone!

Thanks to all our contestants: Betsy Born, Eric Burnham, Henry, Eric Johnson, Larisa Lisinovic, Shaun McClay, Mary Montoya, Sadie Schrader, Barbara Stasz, and Colleen Williams.

This year’s winning recipes were Judges’ Choice Zen Pizza Hotdish by Mary Montoya (two time winner!) and Audience Favorite Fresh Veggie Casserole by Sadie Schrader (who also won for Best Church Lady Attire). Mary and Sadie each received a custom casserole with their winning titles etched into the casserole lid. Recipes are here.

Thanks also to our awesome panel of judges: Megan Duke, 2015 Audience Favorite Winner, Unny Nambudiripad of Compassionate Action for Animals, and Arwyn and Teresa of Glam Doll Donuts.

Photo credit: Gina Easley Photography

March 2nd, 2016

Join us for a delicious time at the Twin Cities Vegan Hotdish Cookoff on Sunday, March 20 from 1:00-4:00 p.m at the Fuller Park Recreation Center, 48th St. and Grand Ave. in Minneapolis. Local cooks will compete for Audience Choice and Judge’s Choice prize categories. Our judges are Glam Doll Donuts owners Arwyn and Teresa; last year’s Audience Choice winner, Megan Duke; and Compassionate Action for Animals Executive Director, Unny Nambudiripad.

Come and support ARC while tasting a variety of delicious hotdishes for only $1 per sample. Free beverages will be provided and there will be lots of great door prizes. Your best Church Lady attire is welcome, but not required, and we’ll even have a prize for the Best Church Lady Attire. We have a few contestant spots still open so enter to show off your down home hotdish cooking skills for a chance to win one of several fabulous prizes! All contestants will receive a limited edition hotdish cookoff coffee mug and a $10 gift certificate to Ethique Nouveau. Email Chelsea at chelsea@animalrightscoalition.com if you’re inspired to enter.

February 26th, 2016

This past fall, trophy hunting came to the startled attention of Minnesotans with the killing of Cecil the Lion by a Twin Cities dentist. Death by Safari may seem like a nightmare from our colonial past, but it is very much alive, and coming (back) to the Twin Cities. On February 26 and 27, the Minnesota Safari Club International is holding a convention at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park that celebrates trophy hunting as an animal-loving conservation movement. Huh? All of Safari Club’s “BIG 5” are on the endangered or threatened species list, and supporting the Safari Club supports the slaughter of the last of our elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards, and water buffalo.

If the thought of nature’s most majestic animals gunned down for game and glory makes you angry, please join the Animal Rights Coalition, Minnesota Animal Liberation, and CompassionWorks International on the sidewalk outside the Marriott at 7025 Northland Drive North for a legal protest on Saturday, February 27 from 10am to 1pm. (The local authorities have asked us to park in the warehouse parking lot just across Northland Drive from the hotel.) You don’t have to say or do anything; just stand with us, hold a sign if you are able. (Signs will be provided.) Let the Minnesota Safari Club and big game hunters know that there is nothing sportsman-like about killing animals to make wall hangings.

For Pete’s sake, we live in Minnesota. Exotic animals should only come to our homes on the pages of National Geographic. Trophy animals – hung above the mantle? That’s just carnage. It’s sad indeed that our own Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a booth at this festival of killing.

February 19th, 2016

Please join the Animal Rights Coalition at Instinct Art Gallery, 940 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis on Saturday, February 20, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. for vegan hors d’oeuvres, violin music, and mingling amidst the exhibition, UNFILTERED: Sue Coe, Nancy Robinson and the Guerrilla Girls. Instinct will be donating 10% from the sale of artwork during this event to the Animal Rights Coalition.

The UNFILTERED artists are activists across a range of issues including Animal Rights, Feminism, and Personal Identity, and Sue Coe is one of the foremost activist artists working today. She is known around the world for exposing human-inflicted tragedies. Her art is graphic and intense, and her topics include the atrocities of slaughterhouses, war, and imperialism.

These artists put themselves on the line to shape the world around them. They use different strategies and art forms, take aim at different aspects of our humanness, and present themselves in very different personas. What unites them is their bravery to be who they are in the face of what we, as a society, are. They are unrestrained voices in a sea of well-mannered voices.

February 3rd, 2016

If your employer has an annual health fair, suggest ARC’s Vegan University as a vendor. Here’s a sample email you can use that resulted in ARC doing food sampling at a recent corporate health fair and also becoming a regular provider of literature on veganism to several personal trainers for their clients.

“Just saw an email about the upcoming health fair and wanted to suggest the organization I volunteer with for the fair. We have a program called Vegan University that promotes plant-based eating with food sampling and literature. We offer regular free grocery shopping tours at local co-ops and markets like Whole Foods, Byerly’s, and Rainbow, and regular free workshops about adopting a plant-based diet. We’ve been at several employee health fairs; for example, we had tables at the CIGNA and SGI employee health fairs, and regularly have booths at community events such as the Diabetes Expo and Healthy Life Expo.

We can do free plant-based food sampling. Items typically sampled include Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips (sold at mainstream grocery stores now), Primal Spirit Vegan Jerky, plant-based soy and almond milks, and vegan yogurt.

So am emailing to see if this would be of interest for the health fair. I’m sure you’re aware that there has been an explosion of interest in plant-based eating in the last several years, whether people are interested in reducing animal products in their diet for health reasons or in going vegan.”

Email chelsea@animalrightscoalition.com if your employer is interested in Vegan University being at their health fair.

January 13th, 2016

4 out of 6 Paradise Car Washes in the Twin Cities surrounding areas keep a Macaw as a resident “pet”. The birds live at the Savage, Apple Valley, Eagan, and East Bloomington stores. Their names are Ruby, Peanut, Speedy, and Rainbow. According to employees, the birds are in the car wash 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and have been for their entire lives.

Knowledgeable observers say the birds show signs of stress, exacerbated by being handled by the public (despite signs asking they not be handled) and by the exuberance of children and dogs who come into the car washes. Issues range from behaviors demonstrating depression to excessive feather plucking (sometimes down to bare skin). There appears to be little to no enrichment such as toys and activities provided.

Macaws live in their natural habitat for around 70 years, and they mate for life. These birds deserve a better life, and the companionship of others of their species.

Ask Paradise Car Wash to relinquish these birds to a qualified, expert rescue, and do not support this business until this occurs. Contact info for Paradise Car Wash locations: Savage (952) 890-7755, Eagan (651) 456-0000, Apple Valley (952) 431-4600, and East Bloomington (952) 888-5388. Please like and share the Facebook page for these birds.

December 17th, 2015

During the holiday season, popular gifts sometimes include donations to hunger relief programs that send live animals as gifts to be used for food. Learn how these programs harm not only animals, but often the families and communities they’re intended to help.

A Well-Fed World’s PLANTS-4-HUNGER program provides a more compassionate and nutritious gift-giving alternative, sending 100% of your gift to four hand-picked plant-based programs that feed people without using animals.

The four projects support vegan school lunch programs in Ethiopia, provide non-GMO soybeans to farming families in Guatemala, deliver warm meals to those most in need in India, and plant community food gardens in the United States. These programs provide both immediate assistance and long-term community solutions to improve food security and nutrition.