By Gene
“I became a vegetarian immediately, and two years later, I became vegan.”
– Emily Deschanel
“[I decided] to raise as much awareness as possible.”
– Taryn Southern
“I wrote to Congress. I became a member of Farm Sanctuary.”
– Evan Ferrante
These are some of the responses we got when we asked our celebrity supporters, “When you learned about the cruelty endured by animals on factory farms, what did you do?”
Now we’re asking you. Launched on September 23 and running through October 2 (World Day for Farmed Animals), Farm Sanctuary’s What Did You Do? campaign will educate and empower people across the country, so that, collectively, we can answer, “We changed the world.”
For this campaign, Farm Sanctuary has created a resource, forum, and launching pad for action. On wdyd.farmsanctuary.org, we provide the facts about factory farming and eating animals. We also share powerful animal stories and videos from our celebrity supporters, and we introduce some of the amazing pigs, turkeys, cows, and chickens we’ve rescued from the factory farming industry. Additionally, site visitors will find some awesome vegan recipes and tips on compassionate living — and of course some important ways to take action for farm animals.
Now we’re calling on farm animal advocates everywhere to get involved. We want to know: What did you do? And what will you do now?
One of the most important and effective things you can do is spread the word. So use Facebook, Twitter, and email to share the campaign with your friends and family.
You can also team up to make a difference. Through our Crowdrise site, we’re raising funds with our star-powered teams: Team Oink, Team Cluck, Team Gobble, and Team Moo. Leading them are Russell Simmons, Emily Deschanel, John Salley, Fred Willard, Ashlan Gorse, Leona Lewis, Matisyahu, Mayim Bialik, and many more. Participants can join one of these teams or start their own. Thanks to our wonderful sponsors and celebrity partners, donors will also be able to compete in prize challenges (for instance, a chance to win a “JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS Greatest Hits” CD, signed with a thank you note by Joan herself).
To kick off the campaign, a group of generous donors we’re calling our “Animal Angels” has issued a challenge: For each of the four animal teams that reaches $25,000 in donations (or, for a combined total of $100,000 among all four teams), our angels will double the total. This challenge presents an opportunity to generate tremendous resources for our education, advocacy, and rescue work. Just $18 could buy a month’s worth of pain medication for a rescued turkey; $30 could provide a month’s worth of food for a pig. Imagine the impact of $200,000!
Also kick-starting the project are Fred Willard, Russell Simmons, Shannon Elizabeth and Ashlan Gorse, who pitched us their ideas for a farm animal awareness PSA. Now it’s your turn. We’re asking participants across the country to send us their videos about what they did when they learned about animal cruelty. Details here: http://bit.ly/1fysPv3.
Stay tuned for updates and challenges throughout the campaign by checking in on Twitter, Facebook, and wdyd.farmsanctuary.org — and remember to share!
“We are the ones of whom it will be fairly asked, ‘What did you do when you learned the truth about eating animals?‘” — Jonathan Saffron Foer, Eating Animals