By Lisa Rimmert, VO Director of Development
My colleague, Victor Sjodin, never ceases to amaze me with his dedication to reducing animal suffering. As if it isn’t enough that he’s VO’s Director of Outreach, or that he leafleted 133,000 people all over India during a grueling ten-week tour earlier this year—now he’s raising money for the Team Vegan matching drive! During Team Vegan, throughout May and June, all donations to Vegan Outreach will be doubled.
Vic speaks out for animals by leafleting because he knows first-hand its effectiveness. He received a Why Vegan booklet himself, at Hofstra University in 2002. The seed was planted, and before long he became vegan and started volunteering for VO as a leafleter. Vic said, “I decided I needed to use my human freedoms and privilege to help others—like the poor, innocent farm animals who have done nothing wrong but were born into terrible suffering.”
Vic was very shy when he first started leafleting, but soon he got used to talking with strangers and, well, the rest is history—nine years of leafleting and working with VO!
I asked Vic why he’s participating in Team Vegan, and why he thinks donating is so crucial to this cause. “Money is the fuel of social change,” he said. And he’s right! We can’t pay for gas, print and ship booklets, or provide hard-working Outreach Coordinators a salary without donations.
Vic added, “Fundraising is vital to the operation and is also inspiring. If everybody gives what they can, together it accumulates to a large figure and we can do so much with it.” I wholeheartedly agree!
For Vic’s Team Vegan fundraiser, he plans to walk a mile for every 50 dollars donated. He came up with the idea after tearing his Achilles tendon (for the second time—ouch). Vic needs to do some rehab to heal that leg, so donating to his Team Vegan page is helping animals and helping Vic at the same time!
Every $50 donation means Vic will walk one mile! Get him moving by donating to his Team Vegan page now.