Supporter
Spotlight

Christopher Randall

One of the first things I ask about when I meet new Compassion Collective members is their journey to animal protection. Over the years, I have heard so many incredible stories of what brought people to dedicate their lives to helping animals, but Christopher Randall’s has stayed with me for a long time. He spent his life in radio and used his job to help do charitable work beginning in his early 20s. He established his own charity, Helping Others Incorporated, and brought in over $3 million in toys, records, concert tickets, candy, and other gifts for needy children at Christmas. He ran on-air charity campaigns, set up a summer camp radio sponsorship for disadvantaged children, served on charity boards, started a “pet of the week” program on his radio stations—the list goes on. He has adopted six cats over the years and is adopting a cow at Pegasus Animal Sanctuary who he has lovingly named Audrey Lulu Blossom in memory of his late mother. It’s the special relationship Christopher had with his mother that continues to move me. He tirelessly does impactful work to help animals as a way to honor and stay connected with her. I am grateful that I get to share his story through our latest Q&A.

Q – Tell us about yourself and how you became interested in animal issues.

A – As long as I can remember, I’ve loved animals and wanted to help them. One day when I was 18 and going to see friends downtown, I came upon a cat who had been hit by a car in the middle of a four-lane road. I desperately wanted to help the cat but couldn’t. Years later I saw a beautiful Labrador retriever on the side of a country road. I got out to help, but he had died. Those two moments deeply touched my heart and soul. Fast-forward 40 years, and I heard about a woman who faced criminal charges for feeding water to pigs heading to a slaughterhouse on a very hot summer’s day. I decided to go to the trial and was moved by the cause of animals. Later I went to weekly protests at cow, pig, and chicken slaughterhouses. My life was never the same after my first time at the slaughterhouse, and I stopped eating living beings. I joined marches and sang hymns at the slaughterhouse gates. “We Shall Overcome,” the great spiritual hymn, became my anthem each week. I asked others to sing, and I prayed for the animals when I looked into their eyes through the ventilation holes of the transport trucks. Seeing the cows, pigs, and chickens in the trucks moved my soul to want to do everything I could to stop this unspeakable cruelty.

Q – We really started getting to know each other when you decided to build a legacy honoring your mother, who had recently passed. Tell us more about this special relationship.

A – When my dear mother, Audrey Lulu Lishman Halnan, died in 2022 at the age of 96, I wanted to honor her life and my 62 years with her and help animals in her name. The day before my mother passed away, I told her I wanted to give $30,000 to three different organizations, including Mercy For Animals. That memorial to her was the beginning of my membership in the Compassion Collective. I wanted to help animals not only with protests and prayers but with my financial resources. Each year on my mother’s birthday and Christmas, I give money in her name to help the animals I love so much, and I pray to her to help them from Heaven. My mom’s death changed my world in every way.

Christopher Randall and his mother sitting close together and smiling.

Q – What part of Mercy For Animals’ work is closest to your heart?

A – Mercy For Animals gives me an opportunity to be part of a group of people who believe in the principles of loving compassion for the farmed animals who I dearly love and who need so much help. We can be their voices in a world that is often deaf to their cries and make mercy our top priority.

Q – What is the most important thing activists can do?

A – Being a donor enables me to be part of the Mercy For Animals organization and support a charity that demonstrates my personal values: loving mercy and compassion for animals. It’s an honor to help other living souls. And Mercy For Animals saves, loves, and advocates for my beloved farmed animals. Being engaged with others strengthens us all individually and collectively in our resolve to end cruelty and suffering on Earth. As a gay man, I don’t have children to leave my estate to, and I decided I wanted my worldly savings and estate to go to animal causes. Money can change things, and I wanted my legacy to help my dear cows, pigs, and all other animals. I feel fortunate to have saved money to leave a legacy. My love for animals can live on when I’m no longer here.