By Lisa Rimmert, VO Director of Development
Each year The Pollination Project—an organization we at VO are big fans of—seeks nominations for vegan activists who work behind the scenes to create a more compassionate world.
The awards are named after the late Lisa Shapiro, an inspiring activist from Boulder, CO.
Lisa would be proud of this year’s winners! Out of all the nominations this year, eleven heroes were chosen—one couple and ten individuals, including our friends Aneeha Patwardhan and Patti Breitman!
Aneeha Patwardhan is an activist who VO’s Director of Outreach Vic Sjodin had the pleasure of meeting while in India. Here’s an excerpt from Vic’s tribute:
I love Aneeha’s endless passion and urgency for animal rights, and for sharing the beauty of veganism with others. She began her work after she came across a Vegan Outreach Facebook post that showed a young man who had gone vegan after getting a booklet. In typical fashion, she immediately ordered booklets of her own, which she and a friend then handed out during a march for animals in Pune, India. She has since helped organize leafleting and video outreach to the public nearly every weekend with local activists.
Read more about Aneeha here.
Patti Breitman is the founder of the Marin Vegetarian Education Group, co-founder of Dharma Voices for Animals, and co-author of the books Never Too Late to Go Vegan: The Over-50 Guide to Adopting and Thriving on a Plant-Based Diet, How to Eat like a Vegetarian Even If You Never Want to Be One, and more. Not only that, but Patti is also a friend and supporter of Vegan Outreach!
Read more about Patti here.
Congratulations to Aneeha, Patti, and the other wonderful Unsung Vegan Heroes!
Anyone who reads the bios of Aneeha and Patti, are surely as inspired as I am.
I was very happy to learn about the grassroots efforts in India to promote compassion towards non-human animals. I have been reading about the increase of meat eating in countries like India. This is disturbing, knowing that, traditionally, India has had long history of compassion towards animals. I am so glad that citizens like Aneeha are keeping that torch lit. I greatly admire her efforts as I know she has so much going on in her life as a student.
And, at last I got to meet Patti, co-author of “Never Too Late to Go Vegan: The Over-50 Guide to Adopting and Thriving on a Plant-Based Diet.” This book has been sitting on my shelf for a few years now. It is inspiring and filled with some tasty recipes. I use it and recommend it to others often. I’m often very curious about the authors of books that I read. When I turn the pages of this book again, I’ll feel even more connected to it, now that I know Patti. What a great woman who is so active in creating a better and more compassionate world.
Congratulations to both these women. They deserve the recognition. I look forward to learning about the other heroes!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Donna! We’re definitely inspired by Aneeha and Patti as well!