By Jamila Alfred, VO Maryland/DC Events and Outreach Coordinator

For those with a sweet tooth, we’ve got a treat for you today!

The face behind the California-based dessert business Charlie’s Brownies gave us the scoop on his successes and challenges as a young, vegan entrepreneur of color.

Charlie Fyffe, the company’s founder and CEO, had been making baked goods for quite some time before he started selling them. The many technicalities and obstacles were no match for a mid-20s Charlie when he finally built his brand and shared it with the world.

And although he didn’t start out as a vegan, the savvy businessman recently veganized his company and has been a hit in the Los Angeles vegan scene ever since!

In addition to running a business, Charlie recently volunteered with VO’s Community Engagement Initiative (CEI). He donated brownies at an informational session—organized by VO’s CEI Manager, Roxanne Hill—and he answered questions that attendees had about animal product substitutes in baking. He also allowed VO to purchase his brownies at a discounted rate for an information session the following week.

Want to learn more about the Brownie Man? Well, keep reading on!

Jamila Alfred: What brought about your entrepreneurial spirit?

Charlie Fyffe: My entrepreneurial spirit came from needing to pay for basic necessities while I was in high school—food, clothes, and gas for my car. I had to find creative ways to make money, so I started out selling candy and Gatorade, giving people rides home after school, providing weekly iPod music uploads, and later selling baked goods like brownies.

Jamila: What inspired you to sell brownies?

Charlie: In my senior year of high school, as a family bonding activity, my mother and I made brownies from a box mix to bring to my varsity basketball potluck. After packaging up the brownies nicely and seeing my teammates devour an entire box in minutes, the light bulb within me sparked. I decided to bring brownies to sell at school the next week. And sure enough, they were a top seller almost instantaneously.

In college, I continued to sell brownies to make side money. When a customer recognized the brownies I was selling as box mix brownies I decided to make my own recipe.

I joined the baking club, refined my recipe, and eventually got a contract with my college to sell my brownies in the coffee shop on campus.

Jamila: Why did you decide to veganize your business after selling non-vegan desserts?

Charlie: I veganized my business for the same reasons I went vegan personally. Supporting the dairy industry is an atrocity to this planet. Also, I personally believe that you cannot make “the best brownie” if a quarter of the world can’t eat it due to allergies or intolerances. Making the product dairy-free made it safer and more accessible while tasting even more delicious than the original non-vegan recipe.

Jamila: How did you begin your involvement with VO?

Charlie: My friend, Roxanne—VO’s CEI Manager—reached out to me to see if I’d like to help out. I’d heard about VO before, but never really looked into it. After conversing with Roxanne, I found that my deep-seated mission is not too far from that of VO’s, so naturally it’s a good fit for me.

Jamila: What are your challenges as a businessman of color?

Charlie: Luckily, I haven’t had any doors closed on me strictly because of my race, but the main challenge has been access to capital and resources to grow my business.

Starting a business means spending money and taking some losses in the beginning. I’ve watched some of my white and Jewish friends raise $150,000 easily in what they call a “friends and family round.” In many other cultures, it’s a tradition to support the growth of new ventures. The community provides investment, support, and a customer base that’s loyal. When money is spent, it circulates and everyone wins. I don’t have that same foundation and backing within the black community, although they have greatly supported me in my journey as customers.

Jamila: What’s your advice for young people of color who are up-and-coming entrepreneurs?

Charlie: My advice is to work harder than everyone around you, only take advice from people that are in the position you want to be in, and let failure only be defined as a lesson rather than a reason to slow down or quit.

Jamila: Thank you, Charlie, for getting involved with VO and providing vegans with their brownie fix!

For the sugar fiends out there, Charlie will be re-opening his company’s web store for online orders in 2017 and he’ll be placing packaged goods in stores in Los Angeles this March. In the meantime, follow him on Instagram @charliesbrownies and on Facebook to stay updated.

By Taylor Radig, VO Campaigns Manager

There’s no doubt that the treatment of animals is becoming a serious topic within the Christian Church in recent years. Pope Francis himself shocked the world when he released his encyclical Laudato Si last year expressing concern about climate change and the treatment of animals.

He even got on Twitter and said, “It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.”

Yup—he really did say that and he really is on Twitter!

Inspired by the encyclical, St. Francis Alliance: Faithful Voices for Animals is hosting the very first American Catholic retreat focused on animal protection.

Featuring speakers like Bruce Friedrich and Dr. Alka Chandna, the three-day event will be held in Virginia over the weekend of February 17-19, with presentation and discussion sessions, time for individual prayer, and daily mass. The retreat is open to all people of faith, and delicious vegan food will be served all weekend. Registration closes December 31.

The St. Francis Alliance is a faith-based group of volunteers who work to improve the lives of animals. Additional details about the retreat may be found on the group’s website.

By Alex Bury, Organizational Development Consultant

Vegan Outreach staffers David Carter, Paige Carter, Lisa Rimmert and volunteer Brian Ottens recently helped with two amazing events in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD.

Thanks to DC and Baltimore superstars Brenda Sanders, Naijha Wright-Brown, and Maureen Cohen Harrington, who worked closely with great teams of DC and Baltimore volunteers, more than 200 people learned about vegan eating. They didn’t just get a VO booklet or hear a talk—they got a booklet and heard great talks and ate delicious vegan food!

As part of the Green Dinner speaker series, David also spoke at Northwestern High School in Baltimore.

Vegan Outreach is concerned about veg recidivism (people who go vegan and then fall off the wagon due to lack of support). That’s one reason why we want to support more of these events.

A quick touch is important and we’re ramping up our fall plans for college leafleting—but we have to also offer quality over quantity at times. That means meeting non-vegetarians, sharing good vegan food so they get an idea of what they might eat, answering their questions, and offering a personal connection. These deeper touches are messier and harder to organize but if we want to work towards a vegan world we have to do them.

Vegan Outreach is also concerned about the lack of diversity in the mainstream animal movement and the damage that does both to people of color who are excluded, and to the work that is less effective when it’s mostly geared towards only one group of people.

So you can see why we love these dinners!

Brenda and Naijha offered welcoming spaces, filling comfort food, and great info about going vegan. They featured local speakers and David Carter also spoke. When he talks about being fit on a vegan diet it’s hard to ignore!

Superstar VO volunteer Brian Ottens and staffer Lisa Rimmert were on hand to answer questions about vegan eating and offer plenty of booklets with recipes, nutrition guidelines, and information about how animals suffer in slaughterhouses.

Brenda and Naijha have created a thriving community of vegan resources so that once people get that first nudge to go vegan, they can follow up with local events and people to stay vegan.

A new vegan can eat at Naijha’s restaurant, The Land of Kush, attend Brenda’s Vegan Living Program, or attend events like the Baltimore Vegan Mac ’n’ Cheese Smackdown.

I don’t know of any city that has successfully created a vegan support community like Baltimore has. Brenda and Naijha, we don’t know how you do all that you do, but we know we’re honored to support it.

By Alex Bury, Organizational Development Consultant

I’ve been a donor and volunteer to Vegan Outreach for many years, and that includes my biggest volunteer project of all, being married to the Executive Director, Jack Norris! Let’s just say he’s a work in progress.

This year I started consulting and my main client is Vegan Outreach. I do mostly fundraising work, but I’m also an expert when it comes to hip hop. OK, maybe not. But I have been learning about it when I’m not listening to Broadway musicals.

Vegan Outreach teamed up with Keith Tucker of the 10th Element of Hip Hop to help him bring vegan food to the hip hop world. Hip Hop traditionally had 9 elements of cultural expression and Keith wanted to add a 10th—Health & Wellness—based on vegan eating. A powerful idea.

On April 21st, Jack and I were lucky to see it all come to fruition! Keith hosted the 10th Element of Hip Hop Awards Ceremony in Harlem, New York City. VIP’s like John Salley, Easy AD, Styles P, and Stic.man were there in person to sign the declaration.

It didn’t really hit us that we were watching history be made until we were sitting in the auditorium at the awards ceremony. It was very exciting, and gave me a boost of optimism for the future!

Later that day Keith, Chef Ariel Bangs, Chef Chandra, and a host of volunteers put on a Green Dinner at a public school a block away.

They served vegan tacos, chili, fruit water—no soda at this dinner!—and a delicious salad to a big school dining room full of kids, parents and teachers.

Jack and I prepared fruit waters and helped serve. It was pretty cool to have people coming up to me wanting seconds. I asked one kid, “Have you ever had vegan food before?” He said, “No, but I want more!

The night ended with a small concert for the kids—Hip Hop artists dancing on stage with little ones, while we handed out Vegan Outreach leaflets to the grown-ups.

A lot of parents asked for 2nd and 3rd booklets to share with others. Vegan Outreach excels at getting vegan info into the hands of young people who are open to change.

VO started leafleting 20 years ago and they’ve handed out over 20 million booklets to date. They’re still going to the schools in remote areas—hello, Wyoming! The Green Dinners are a perfect complement with a deeper touch—each person who gets a leaflet also gets to taste vegan food and talk to vegans. All of this outreach combined with the thriving Vegan Mentor Program—created to try and stop veg recidivism—makes for a stronger movement over all.

If you’re like me, you often get angry about animal abuse and sometimes you might feel a sense of hopelessness. Getting involved with VO is the best way to counteract those feelings!

Thanks to the *amazing* donors who made the Hip Hop events happen, who volunteered, and who keep VO going strong year after year. You know who you are and we love you!

If this outreach inspires you to give more, please consider giving to Team Vegan—your donation will be doubled if you give before June 30!

By Vic Sjodin, VO Director of Outreach

Do you or someone you know want to help animals? Consider Vegan Outreach’s Spring and Fall Semester Intern program!

Interns join our traveling Outreach Coordinators—OCs—and leaflet on college campuses Monday through Friday. Our OCs travel by car and stay in host homes.

You’d be joining them for the ride—it can be a lot of work, but it’s a great adventure!

And best of all, your work introduces countless students to veganism! Most interns rave about their experiences, and many have also stated that, as a bonus, their social skills and confidence improved.

Several Vegan Outreach interns have gone on to work for VO or within the wider Animal Rights movement.

Outreach happens during the Fall and Spring college semesters and last anywhere from one to three months. Vegan Outreach provides a $200 per month stipend to all interns.

Totally pumped and want to apply? Email [email protected]

2016 Spring Semester VO Intern, Doris Schneeberger

“My internship was AAMAAZING It was really really great, thanks again so much for having me as an intern!!! Yuri is super cool—he was such a great person to work with. And thanks to him I got to see so many very interesting places.”
– Doris Schneeberger

By Lisa Rimmert, VO Director of Development

Living in Colorado, I’m very lucky to be surrounded by dedicated Vegan Outreach donors. I don’t know what brought them all here—maybe the buffalo seitan wings at City, O’ City in Denver—but there’s a concentration of supporters in this area. Two of these great people are my friends Laura and Rick Bruess.

The Bruesses are wonderful—incredible activists and very fun to spend time with. They’re also very impressive athletes, and after hearing that Laura set a huge record this year, I wanted to highlight her on the VO blog.

We discussed veganism, running, activism, and more. Everybody, meet Laura Bruess!

Lisa Rimmert: Tell us about yourself, Laura!

Laura Bruess: I live in Boulder with my husband, Rick, and two rescue dogs. Rick and I sold our optometric practice two years ago and are happily retired. We run every day, 60 miles a week—often with our dogs—and Rick coaches our running club, Athletics Boulder.

Lisa: What inspired you to become vegetarian and then vegan?

Laura: Rick and I went vegetarian about 30 years ago. I was in my early 20s and I saw a really young calf laying in a field alone. I felt sad for him and wondered where his mother was.

The next day, I was eating a hamburger and it just hit me. What a hypocrite I was! How could I eat him? We stopped eating animals then.

Unfortunately, we still believed all the lies about happy dairy cows and free-range eggs. When we finally looked closer at it and realized that eggs and dairy are every bit as cruel as meat, we went vegan—that was about 10 years ago.

Lisa: You and Rick are generous donors to Vegan Outreach, and you’ve also leafleted and done other forms of activism. How did you get involved with VO?

Laura: We learned about Vegan Outreach through the late Lisa Shapiro. She lived in Boulder and dedicated her entire life to reducing animal suffering and helping people transition to a more compassionate lifestyle. She was a true hero.

I appreciate everyone involved in animal activism. I love Vegan Outreach because I believe that leafleting is the most effective way to reach people—to show them what is so well hidden. No one wants to harm animals, and it’s so easy not to.

Lisa: You and Rick are incredible runners! How long have you been running?

Laura: Rick and I have been running together for over 30 years.

Lisa: You set a big record this summer. Tell us about that!

Laura: I set the 10,000 meter American record, for women ages 55-59, at the USA Track and Field’s West Region Masters Track Championships in Norwalk, CA. I ran 39:37.05, just beating the old record set in 2007 in Orono, ME. I had also just run probably the best race of my life at Bolder Boulder, setting a new all-time age record.

Lisa: That’s amazing, Laura! Congratulations! What effect, if any, does being vegan have on your running success?

Laura: Since going vegan, our running has improved—Rick’s and mine. We eat nutrient dense foods and recover from hard workouts quickly.

I wish I had become vegan sooner. I thought I needed animal protein, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only was it so much easier than we thought it would be to go vegan, our health is perfect. We are in our mid 50s and take no medications. At my last physical my doctor said I had the blood pressure of a baby.

Lisa: What’s your favorite vegan snack?

Laura: My favorite snack food is probably kale chips with nutritional yeast. We have them every night. Our grocer once called us the kale hogs because we buy six pounds at a time!

Lisa: Thank you, Laura, for taking time to chat with me!

There you have it folks! A big dose of inspiration for all active vegans and any athlete who may be curious about eating a vegan diet!