Busy, Busy, Busy!

My life and activism has been a spatter here and there over the past week, so it’s been hard to really sit down and write about it.  Things are happening, though, so lets try and catch up!

1.  Let’s talk about the St. Louis Walk for Farm Animals!
Where to start?  How about numbers.  As of the last count, there are 44 registered walkers.  If you will recall, my revised goal is 50, so I’m waiting for you last 6 to sign up already!  Then there’s the money.  Our goal is to raise $2500 this year.  So far, we are over a quarter of the way there with $733!  We are doing fantastic!

We’ve had lots of new donations this week too!
- Trx Tattoos has donated a $50 gift certificate.
- Salon St. Louis has donated 5 free haircuts and makeup touch-ups
- A Build-a-Bear Dog (or a Build-a-Dog I guess)
- Goodie bags from Stimulus Baking
- Something in the works from Whole Foods – Town & Country

Additionally, Match Meat is now the official raffle sponsor, so we thank them for their support and encourage you to try out their products.  You can see what someone else is doing with them over at The Royale, where they have some great Match Chicken sandwiches and burgers.

So, once again I ask, where are those 6 walkers?  Look what you could be missing out on!

Okay, so maybe you don’t want to walk?  I bet you still want prizes.  Who doesn’t?  If you sponsor me, or one of the other St. Louis walkers, you can win some prizes of your own!

For every $5 you donate, you will receive one entry in the Match Meat Walker Sponsor Raffle to win:

- $10 Gift Card to Foundation Grounds Coffee House
- A Free Haircut and Makeup Touch-Up at Salon St. Louis
- $20 Girt Card to Eckert’s Orchard

Remember, you can support me by clicking the Firstgiving button on the side of this page, over and up!

Or, you can support one of my walkers.  Speaking of, I would like to welcome the following to our group:

Mack
Jenni
Alex
Deanna

I have to once again thank all of our St. Louis sponsors and ask that you support them whenever you can!

2.  Let’s move on to the Brighten the Days of Our Strays fundraiser for Open Door Animal Sanctuary.
I have to give credit to Mitch for taking the initiative on this one.  This Sunday, yet another animal shelter is raising funds to benefit one group of animals (the cute, fun ones) at the expense of others.  They are holding their fundraiser at Harry’s.  We’ve gotten used to animal shelters raising money by offering meat-based dishes (although we shouldn’t have).  There are so many great places that offer an abundance of vegetarian and vegan options, though, and Harry’s is not one of them.  There is NOTHING there for a vegan to eat.  Really, we are their target audience.  We are the animal lovers.  We eat too!

So Mitch wrote them a letter, and I hope you will consider writing one as well.

Contact:
Tracie
or
Joan Costello
(636) 671-3643
6065 Duda Rd.
House Springs, MO 63051

Here is his letter to offer you some inspiration:

Tracie,

I ran across your flyer for this event at the Town and Country Whole foods this morning and was thrilled to learn about another no-kill animal shelter in the Greater St. Louis area.  I was previously under the impression that Stray Rescue was the only no-kill shelter in our area, and I applaud your efforts.  I was disappointed, however, after visiting the website for Harry’s to discover that there isn’t a single menu item available that is vegan friendly.  Have, or would you be willing to arrange with the owner to provide a special menu on the night of the event that includes animal friendly cuisine?  It seems somewhat hypocritical to promote an event designed to support the health and well-being of one group of animals at the expense of the health and well-being of another group.  Don’t all of the furred, feathered, and scaly friends deserve the same care and respect that your organization clearly feels should be shown to the dogs and cats you care for?

Once again, I applaud your good work and wish you great success.  Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in making this or any of your future events safe and friendly for all living things.  As I am sure you know, the vegetarian/vegan community in St. Louis is socially active and growing rapidly.  We share information and love to help publicize businesses and organizations who take positive steps towards becoming animal friendly.

Thanks again,

Mitch

3.  Social Entrepreneurship!
I will end on the note of the new class I started last night.  I am so excited about this.  It’s great to be in a group of people passionate about changing the world!  Of course, I’m the animal person, but, well… I am!  I have already seen access to so many more resources and new information.  I really think this class is going to bring to fruition my pet food pantry in the city!