Showing Off Our Veggie Pride in Austin, LA, DC, and Baltimore!

Throughout the month of June, teams of COK volunteers — from Los Angeles to Baltimore to Austin to Washington, DC — helped spread a message of compassion at several Pride celebrations.

Kicking things off on Sat., June 6, COK’s VegAustin Coordinator, Daniela Nunez, tabled at Queerbomb, a gay pride rally in Austin, TX, and distributed hundreds of copies of pro-veg literature, including the Summer 2011 edition of our Vegetarian Guide to Austin.

The following weekend, we set up educational booths at festivals on both the East and West coasts — for Los Angeles Pride and Capital Pride in Washington, DC.

In Los Angeles, COK’s Outreach Director Jaya Bhumitra, and Outreach Intern Gwen Mathers along with a team of volunteers, encouraged Los Angelenos to widen their circle of compassion by leaving animals off their plates. Over 4,000 pieces of pro-veg literature, including our popular Vegetarian Guide to Los Angeles were distributed over the course of the two-day festival.

At the same time we were showing off our veggie pride in the City of Angels, nearly a dozen COK volunteers in Washington, DC handed out over 2,000 pieces of pro-veg literature as well as 1,000 free samples of Primal Strips meatless jerky at the annual Capital Pride festival. Word spread fast about our free vegan food samples, which were gone within a few short hours. Everyone who sampled the meatless jerky also walked away with information about vegetarian eating.

To end our coast to coast Veggie Pride tour on a high note, a team of nearly two dozen COK volunteers marched in the Baltimore Pride Parade on June 18–they carried colorful signs, wore kid-friendly pig and cow costumes, and gave out literature as well as over 1,000 rainbow-colored “Be A Lifesaver: TryVeg.com” candies to parade-watchers! The crowd was incredibly responsive with cheers of support. The following day, we hosted an educational booth at the Baltimore Pride Festival, giving out even more literature and free vegan food samples–over 1,000 pieces of Primal Strip meatless jerky.

Pride and other community events offer animal advocates an unique opportunity to reach out to the public, reminding others that “No one is free while others are oppressed.”  In all, we spread a message of compassion for all animals in four cities, giving away thousands of free vegan food samples and more than 8,000 pieces of pro-vegetarian literature.

Want to join our efforts?  Become a member today to support our work and check out our upcoming calendar of outreach events.