Making Progress
Darby and I were extremely excited for our first club meeting, and came up with many great ideas for activities. We showed a short film about the cruelty animals face in our world and then had a group discussion to see what resonated most with club members. We are tapping into local speakers to come talk to the group, too. A local vegan chef is going to show us how to make vegan nachos.
At every meeting, we plan to give members a small sampling of vegan food prepared by us. (For the first meeting, we baked chocolate chip cookies!) We plan to hold a vegan bake sale, where all our club members can bake vegan desserts and we can sell them at different school events, such as our annual musical and school dances. This provides funds for our club and for Farm Sanctuary, while also letting people experience delicious vegan food.
We’re exploring a community film screening and hope to visit a local farm animal sanctuary so students can meet the animals and fall in love with them as I did. We believe it’s important for kids to interact with the animals who make up their meals. It’s the most effective way for kids my age to make the connection.
The most important thing to remember when starting a school club is to keep an open mind and to refrain from any judgment of non-vegans. As Gene Baur says, “Nurture even small positive steps, as these tend to empower people and build momentum toward bigger steps.”