July 2009 Archives

As my last day working for CAA has arrived, I want to thank you wholeheartedly for allowing me to work for CAA and dealing with me over these past four years (plus my volunteering prior to that). It has been quite a journey! CAA has a lot going for it and I am glad that I was able to be a part of such a unique and compassionate organization. It has been a true honor to work with such dedicated volunteers and staff, donors and supporters, who have all devoted so much of their time and financial resources to better our world.

Over the past two weeks I have seen CAA's new employee Ben Kutschied hard at work, and I think he is already a great asset and fit for the organization. Over this time period, I have provided him training, advice, and resources. Ben and I are already planning to meet again beyond today to wrap up some further training. I will also be adding more last-minute updates to our rapport database and the wiki in days to come.

Now that I will not be working for CAA, I do ask that CAA-related questions be directed at Ben or Unny -- or other appropriate parties -- when at all possible, unless it is very important and I would really be the only one who could provide an answer. Since I will be doing a lot of traveling over the next few months, I will also have limited access to e-mail and will not be as readily reachable that way.

I am confident that the organization will only grow, as it needs to do in order to ever more advocate for the beings suffering at the whims of human (in)actions. Stay smart, stay compassionate, stay innovative, stay savvy, always keep your eyes on the center of our work -- the animals -- and the rest will follow. I am excited for all of you who are continuing this important journey...and I know the animals are counting on us.

Wishing You All Only The Best,

-Gil

Often times when you want to request a donation from a company, they want the paperwork to see that you're a federal nonprofit organization. We have a letter of non-profit determination that they need, and I put it on the website (PDF). It's linked from a donation page on the website. You can print out the letter and give it as needed. Sometimes, all people want is our tax ID number. It's 41-1846192.

In other news, we've started to plan Outreach for Animals Week. Carolyn S, Kristine V, Alexa N, Jenny W, Sam A, and I are all on the committee. I'm sure I've mentioned that we're doing the donor appreciation event on Aug. 20, haven't I? Abby L is helping to plan that.

We're getting a $10,000 matching donation. That's right. Every dollar you donate will be matched 1.5 to one, up to $10,000. A very generous anonymous donor has confirmed this donation with us. Expect to hear more about this.

See you on Friday at Gil's going away celebration!

As I'm sure most of you have already heard, I will be taking over Gil's position as Director of Volunteer Programs when he leaves.  I can't express enough my excitement over being given this opportunity.  Animal liberation is a subject that is very close to my heart and I am grateful for the chance to work full-time with CAA. 

A friend introduced me to CAA a few years ago after I got my first veg-friendly job as a chef at Ecopolitan Restaurant.   The well thought out and articulated core values and strategies of the organization, such as its strong focus on farmed animals and grassroots organizing and its commitment to honesty and non-violence, were what initially enticed me to get involved.  I volunteered briefly helping to co-organize the 2006 Thanksgiving Potluck and volunteered again handing out vegetarian care packages during Veg Week that same year.  Around the same time I co-founded Upright Egg Theatre Company, a non-profit green theatre.  Upright Egg actively promotes a vegan diet as an indispensable part of the green movement serving vegan foods at most performances and providing an elaborate vegan meal during our annual winter holiday charity event.  When I am not busy with theatre I enjoy gardening, cooking, preparing raw/living foods, being in the wilderness and reading.

I have really enjoyed meeting everyone at CAA so far, and I hope to get a chance to speak with each of you one-on-one over the next couple of weeks.  Please feel free to contact me at any time by phone or via email to discuss any upcoming projects or events or just to say hello.  I would like to extend a big big thanks to Gil for all of his hard work over the past few years and for his help in getting me set up to fill his extremely large shoes.  If you are able to attend his going away potluck on July 17th, make sure to hunt me down and say hello.  Thanks to everyone for having me.  I look forward to working with all of you to make a difference in the lives of animals!

Hi everyone. In the last month, I have been keeping busy with lots of writing tasks. I have been writing and submitting articles (to date, one has been published) and working on the weekly newsletter. I am one of two organizers for the veg food giveaway coming up this September. I sent out one round of emails to companies requesting food donations and got a few responses. Last week, a second  round of emails was sent to those who hadn't responded. Today, I received about  30 email responses! As you can imagine, it will take me a while to get through those. Hopefully we'll have as many donors as we have in recent years, despite the economy. We're certainly getting enough responses to warrant some excitement! Well, that's all for now. I'll keep you posted on the food giveaway.

Bridges had five Our Food Our World presentations in May at Central High School and one more at Century College in June which stretched into a two hour discussion in the halls after class. I guess you could say the students were engaged in the topic of animal rights.

Also, in June Bridges had a pretty good turn out (30-35 people) for a discussion on the power of humane education at TLOV '09. Eight people signed up over the TLOV weekend to get more involved in Bridges but, no one has replied to my "thanks for signing up to get more involved in Bridges" email yet. We'll see who shows up for the next introduction meeting July 19th, 1:00pm, Bridges office, you're invited too.