This past weekend MFA activists in Ohio, Chicago and
Minneapolis gave a whole new meaning to “vegging out” on the weekend. Far from
throwing up their feet and relaxing on their summer weekend, dedicated MFA
members hit the streets to hold an impressive number of animal advocacy events
– inspiring countless festival, concert and conference attendees to explore
veganism. Here are the highlights:
MFA’s Cincinnati, Ohio chapter was out in full force at the annual Gay Pride Festival and Parade – distributing over 2,000 pro-vegetarian brochures. At the festival, their educational exhibit was complete with free
vegan food samples, the powerful Meet Your Meat video, and Vegetarian Starter
Kits.
Thomas Barnett, vegan frontman of the popular punk rock
band, Strike Anywhere, invited our Cincinnati chapter to table at his concert
Sunday evening following the parade.
Thomas is a proud supporter of MFA – even giving us a shout out on stage
during his energetic performance. Check out this photo of our volunteer, Kyle
Becker, rubbing elbows with Thomas at the show.
A powerhouse team of 17 MFA activists in Chicago erected an
eye-catching educational booth at the Andersonville Midsommarfest on Saturday
and Sunday. According to Mikael Nielsen, our Chicago Outreach Coordinator, “The positive reactions were
overwhelming and people took everything from a ton of VSK’s, restaurant guides,
Meet Your Meat DVDs and Compassionate Living magazines to stickers and MFA
tri-folds on ‘humane’ meat and the environmental impacts of eating meat.”
Finally, to cap off the weekend, MFA’s Executive Director,
Nathan Runkle, delivered the opening keynote address at the “Their Lives, Our
Voices” Midwest Animal Advocacy Conference in Minneapolis. Titled, “Inspiring
Compassion: Putting Our Ethics on the Table,” Nathan encouraged attendees to
take a stand on behalf of abused and neglected animals by promoting
cruelty-free food choices.
