An Act of Compassion

Hello Primate Readers! I realize this post isn’t exactly about veganism, or food for that matter. But a huge part of veganism is the compassion we feel towards animals, all animals – including humans. And one subpopulation of humans that I feel really need our compassion and help is at-risk teens and their families. If you’re in the Kansas City Metro area, consider participating and/or donating! And how about this for a deal, I’m going to be walking and for Primate readers, if you sign up to walk I’ll personally make and bring you a small batch of homemade cookies to take home after the walk!! But you have to let me know if you’ll be there in the comment section, so I know to bring you cookies 😉  Oh yeah, and leashed pooches are allowed! Let your furry companion show support for at-risk youth as well!

Announcing the 5th Annual Kids 4 Character 5K Run and Walk

The 5th Annual Kids 4 Character Run and Walk is happening on Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 7:30 -10:30 am at Corporate Woods, building 40, in Overland Park, Kansas.  There will be fun and excitement with food, refreshments, booths, prizes, medals, a raffle, a DJ and celebrity appearances, including 2009 Miss Kansas! The 5K welcomes participants at all levels and ages. There will also be a special Kiddie Dash, fun for kids under 10.

Proceeds go to Lifeskills Management Center to continue helping at-risk teens and their families. Lifeskills Management Center, (LMC,) is a non-profit agency which has served thousands of youth and families in Johnson County since its inception in 1982.

As part of its mission, LMC rejects no one for financial reasons.  Funds from the 5K run will help provide sliding-scale options. LMC challenges the community to take a step toward helping at-risk youth and families in Johnson County by registering for the Kids 4 Character 5K Run and Walk by mail at our LMC website or be green and register online.

A little bit about LMC projects: Two highly reputable programs are Crossroads and Project Sam. The Crossroads Treatment Program has worked in collaboration with the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center since 1982 to provide the only family centered correctional treatment program for juvenile offenders.  When discussing the idea of hope in a group therapy session, one current Crossroads participant stated:
“For me, hope is that I will have a future.  Hope to me is that I won’t continue using, that I will learn to cope with life.  Hope is that my mom will be able to make it year to year without having to ask anyone for help. Hope for me is that me and my father can have a good relationship, where we can both respect each other. Hope for me is that I will learn from my past mistake. That I will never give up. I hope I am changing.”

If you’re not in the Kansas City area, but would like to donate to a worthy cause…here is a paypal donation link:

http://mutualrespect.org/wordpress/?page_id=10

And remember, every little bit helps!

Happy Compassion for all Earthlings!

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Challenge: Give $5 to Washington Humane Society

***Alrighty, the deadline is closed! And since the only two to let us know that they donated were Dad and Nikki..the winners are (drum-roll please): Dad and Nikki!!! Congratulations to them and to all the animals they’ve helped with their donations!***

I hereby challenge all of you to donate to the DC Humane Society’s effort to eliminate killing at the shelter! Let us know how much you give and we’ll reward two of you with a gift certificate to Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe: one raffle winner, and one winner for largest gift.

Through my doggie daycare’s monthly newsletter I learned that the Washington DC Humane Society has embarked on a five year plan called the Good Home Guarantee to eliminate killing at the shelter. From their website:

The Washington Humane Society (WHS) currently operates two shelters in the District of Columbia. They are the only two open-access shelters in the DC area; meaning that no animal is ever turned away. WHS provides comfort and care to more than 20,000 animals each year through its broad range of programs and services including: sheltering, adoption, humane law enforcement, spay and neuter, humane education, human – animal programs, and lost and found services. Because of the large number of animals cared for every year, implementing the Good Home Guarantee will clearly be an aggressive undertaking for WHS – perhaps the biggest challenge in the organization’s history.

As a vegan (who loves her shelter dog more than anything) the thought that 5 million companion animals are killed in this country every year (remember the first part of Earthlings?) just because shelters are mismanaged, not because people are unwilling to take the animals, makes me sick to my stomach. When I adopted Kirsche 3 years ago I had never thought much about no-kill versus kill shelters. But it matters!

So for the DC HS to undertake a no-kill policy when they deal with 20,000 animals every year, I think is fantastic and deserves vegan support! I challenge everyone to give $5, $10, or $100. Remember, we know how many of you click on the link ;). I personally have signed up for an automatic monthly contribution of $20. Let us know in the comments that you made a donation, and send an email to innocent.primate@gmail.com with the amount you’ve given. Whoever gives the most (honor system please) will receive a special thank you gift from the Innocent Primates! Additionally, everyone’s name will be put in a hat, and one of you will be chosen at random to receive a gift certificate to Cosmo’s, too. (We know that not everyone can afford a huge donation, so we want to encourage modest gifts as well.) If you sign up for an automatic monthly gift, we’ll count a year’s total as your donation.

We’ll wait until two weeks from today (deadline: Feb. 24) to determine the winners, so everyone has time to get a paycheck :). Let the bidding war begin!

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Celebrate the Turkeys!

Thanksgiving is coming soon – and most of us know about the suffering that goes on to ‘celebrate’ this holiday, or otherwise described as a ritual sacrifice, “To commemorate a past event you kill and eat an animal. It’s a ritual sacrifice…with pie.” So instead of murdering our avian friends, how about sponsoring a turkey and help Farm Sanctuary rescue and care for turkeys at their sanctuary (you don’t even have to take in a turkey!). I realize money is tight these days, so instead of taking $25 and putting it towards a turkey to eat, how about giving that money to saving a turkey..then let yourself overindulge in guiltless, murder-free dishes, such as vegan pecan pie, or perhaps some decadent chocolate cake smothered in caramel sauce, vegan vanilla ice cream, jimmies and chopped nuts…*drooling now*…. We all deserve a thankful holiday, even the turkeys!

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