Thousands Reached with a Message of Compassion at Los Angeles Fair

This was Compassion Over Killing’s (COK) third year in a row at the eco-conscious Abbot Kinney Festival, one of the biggest Los Angeles fairs attracting 150,000 attendees to the sunny Venice community. It also marked our 50th event of the year!

With the help of 11 amazing volunteers, we handed out approximately 3,000 pieces of literature, including COK’s Vegetarian Starter Guides, Eating Sustainably brochures, Easy Vegan Recipes booklets, Vegetarian Guide to Los Angeles, WeLoveSubway.com campaign flyers, restaurant manager cards, and TryVeg.com business cards to educate people about the many benefits of choosing vegetarian foods.

We also referred hungry festival-goers to two great food vendors serving vegan fare on site: Samosa House and Strictly Vegan Jamaican Cuisine (which some of us may have eaten twice).

People were especially receptive to two of our awesome youth volunteers, Joseph Rommel Arambula and Melissa Rivera, who are in middle and high school respectively (pictured above and to the left). Both students deftly and maturely answered questions about why they choose vegetarian foods, encouraging adults to rethink their own daily choices.

Other leafleters approached the many people who had brought their four-legged companions to this animal-friendly event, inviting them to think about why they love dogs and cats, but eat cows, chickens, and pigs. The many eco-minded passersby were interested to learn about the environmental impact of factory farming and were surprised to find out that choosing vegan foods is even more green than more commonly promoted solutions such as taking public transportation and recycling.

To see our volunteers in action, check out the rest of our photos
on Facebook.