ARC volunteers Troy, Derek, and Jenna, along with ARC Program Director Dallas Rising traveled to Minnesota State University in Mankato on 11/27 to do Pay Per View outreach. They had 68 powerful conversations about animal liberation and plant-based eating in one day – a great success!

Our Pay Per View program offers people one dollar to view a short video on practices in the animal agriculture industry, which includes footage taken in slaughterhouses and on farms. Then our trained volunteers have debrief conversations with viewers and provide them with info about how changing their eating habits can make a huge difference for animals, the earth, and themselves.

Join us in protesting Ribnick Fur and Leather, 224 N 1st Street in Minneapolis, on Fur Free Friday, November 23 from 11am to 1pm. If you agree that the fur industry is cruel and unnecessary, we want you there!

New this year will be anti-fur caroling, with a short, on-the-street rehearsal for those who want to sing during the event. Lyrics will be provided on site, so come ready to sing. You can make a personalized sign if you’d like, but we’ll also have signs and literature available, so feel free to just show up.

If you’re still wearing fur coats and fur-lined hats and gloves, did you know that through our Cuddle Coats program those fashion faux pas can be donated to ARC for a tax deduction? Donated furs offer comfort to orphaned, injured, and abused wild animals and aid them in their recovery at our 14 partner wildlife rehabilitation organizations.

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Over 150 people attended the 19th Annual Healthy Harvest Turkey-free Thanksgiving Potluck and Silent Auction sponsored by ARC, EarthSave Twin Cities, and the Alliance for Sustainability on Sunday, November 18 at Lake Harriet United Methodist Church in Minneapolis. The buffet tables were overflowing with delicious, cruelty-free dishes and we almost ran out of tables. We were thrilled to see so many new faces! For other Thanksgiving events you may be attending, check out Episode 2, the Thanksgiving episode of Rhymes With Vegan for recipe ideas.

Thank you everyone who participated in the STOP AALAS Protest on Sunday, November 4 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We had an amazing turnout of about 100 people and we made the news! Kim Socha, Jenna Cameron, Ali Lillehei, and many others, thanks for helping organize.

This year, the American Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences (AALAS) is holding their annual convention at the Minneapolis Convention Center from November 4-8. This is the largest animal research organization in the country and the largest animal research convention in North America.

It isn’t every day that this many animal tormentors all congregate in one place, and right in our back yard, so thanks to those who came out to represent compassion in the face of institutionalized animal cruelty. The peaceful protest included a post-Halloween costume component to represent the many nonhuman animals who have died in experiments: mice, pigs, primates, dogs, cats, and other animals.

Thanks to Tao Natural Foods and everyone who came out to support their fundraiser for the Animal Rights Coalition on Thursday, November 1. Tao is donating 10% of all vegan sales from the day, including both the restaurant and the wellness store, to ARC’s animal advocacy programs. Please continue to visit Tao Natural Foods to enjoy their delicious, 100% organic, healthy, vegan cuisine.

Congratulations to this year’s Vegan Iron Chef winner, Kaylyn Knopp and the other contestants: AmyLeo Barankovich of Vegan Affairs, Megan Duke, Caitlin Rudeen of Caitlin’s Healthy Homemade, Rachel Smith, and Melissa Swanson who made the third annual Vegan Iron Chef competition on October 20th such a success. The event raised over $500 for ARC’s animal advocacy programs. Butler Soy Curls was the common ingredient for the recipe competition. Check out the winning Vegan Iron Chef 2012 Recipes. Want some soy curls after reading all the yummy recipes? Just stop by Ethique Nouveau, 317 W 48th St. in Minneapolis.

On Sunday, September 16, the ARC Outreach Team passed out literature at the Mexican Independence Day Celebration held along Lake Street in Minneapolis. The event attracted a large crowd from the Hispanic community and neighbors in the Phillips/ Powderhorn area to watch the parade and browse the many booths during the six hours of festivities. Team members learned a few quick Spanish phrases from an ARC volunteer beforehand to help relay the message and then passed out over 700 leaflets. The literature included anti-circus leaflets (in Spanish), comic books about being a friend to chickens for the children, and spay and neuter information. The response from the crowd was overwhelmingly positive.

The outreach team also passed out literature this summer in downtown Minneapolis, in Uptown, at events like the Warped Tour, after concerts like Coldplay, Gotye, and Jason Mraz, and at the Minnesota State Fair. At the University of Minnesota the ARC team helped contribute to a national record for most pieces of literature handed out in one day on a campus. These are just a few highlights of all the events visited this summer by our hard-working outreach team. Many thanks to this dedicated group of activists!

On Saturday, September 8, ARC volunteers gave away hundreds of samples of vegan brats and veggie burgers, everyone’s game-favorite fare, at the University of Minnesota Gopher football team’s first home game of the season. For the second year running, theTofurky Beer Brats with all the fixin’s (ketchup, mustard, relish, and sauerkraut) were delicious and the samples of Gardein burgers flew off the trays as fast as we could grill them. The best part is that the folks we reached were unlikely to have tried vegan food without the encouragement we provided; and they weren’t sorry–we heard many comments about how great everything tasted.

We’ll be back to grill and give away more samples on Saturday, October 13. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped on the 8th, and if you’d like to help out on October 13th by volunteering to grill, pass out food samples, or help answer peoples’ questions about a plant-based diet, contact Dallas. We’d love to have your help!