Kudos to our Community!

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

Thanks to Tammy, Pete & other friends for their kind words on the tea party

(invoices for Weight Watchers notwithstanding!). Colleen did a kick-ass job of

taking care of much of the organizing (I've dubbed her the Queen of Exhaustive

Lists) and it's true that I did become one with some very sticky

dough while making scones, but the greatest credit for Sunday's success must go

to the community for coming out to support the event and to the critters at Farm

Sanctuary for inspiring this brilliant level of support.

 

In a wonderful outpouring of compassion and generosity, close to 100 people

attended Sunday afternoon's City Tea for Country Critters. Through the door

admission (so many people paid well in excess of the suggested $5 - $25 sliding

scale donation - THANK YOU!), silent auction, and raffle, we were

able to raise in excess of $2,100 for Farm Sanctuary. That's a LOT of hay! Woo

hoo! Party in the cow barn!!

 

Colleen *is* pretty energetic, and I take caffeine intravenously (only fair

trade, organic & songbird safe, of course!), but there is no way we could have

pulled this event off ourselves. We had a lot of help before, during and after

the event, and for that we are immensely grateful. The ever-sunny

Winnie Seto was an absolute star in securing so many donations from companies

and restaurants. David Goudreau was a dynamo in helping to secure and collect

donations and helping to distribute advertising flyers. Colleen Holland & Joe

Connelly generously donated a subscription to the incomparably

delicious VegNews along with their ever-fashionable VegNews t-shirt, while also

bringing a plate of mouth-wateringly delicious Mexican wedding cake cookies

(Colleen: DO NOT EVER give me the recipe for those cookies - I'll gain seven

hundred pounds in a second!). More food donations came from the

brilliant bionic bakers, Lori Patotzka (the absolutely delish vegan chocolate

cupcakes), Cathleen Young (the very popular chocolate mint cookies), and Nancy

Loewen (the oh-so-yummy chocolate chip banana bread and pine nut anise cookies).

Can you believe some people think vegans just eat fruit for

dessert?!!??

 

Polly Strand very generously donated tablecloths to help transform our tea party

into a *high* tea! A virtual army of compassionate folks donated items to the

silent auction: t-shirts from designer and activist extraordinaire (to say

nothing of agile rooftop climber), Polly Strand; a plethora of

books from the omnipotent Lori Patotzka; still more wonderful books from the

wonderful Roy Webb; and

hot-off-the-presses-books-that-you-should-absolutely-buy-for-everyone-in-your-fa\

mily-PCRM books from the super Claudia Delman.

Nancy-I-give-new-meaning-to-the-word-generous-Loewen donated the

phenomenal Hot Springs visit; Randy Lind & John Keathley were so magnanimously

generous in donating two massages and a basket of fair-trade coffee, tea, and

chocolate. Suzanne Van Houten of Topps Salon very kindly donated the fabulous

facial. Thanks to Marion Blackmer, Renee Harper, Kevis Brownson,

Christine Celata, Andrea Aerts, Emily Stoper, Suzanne Van Houten, and Susan

Mayer of the UU Church for donating a bevy of beautiful teapots. Tammy & Chris

were wonderful in helping spread the word online, through their website

http://www.generationv.org and elsewhere. Our comrade & friend, Michele

Simon, who has hosted many such successful events in the past, was so dear in

sharing ideas and insights drawn from experience, effectively offering ninety

minutes of free consulting to Colleen.

 

On the day of the event, many people rolled up their sleeves and offered elbow

grease to ensure the event was a success. Cathleen Young, Rose Broome, Lori

Patotzka, Caitlin Anderson, and Simone Olsen-Varela were our sandwich assemblers

extraordinaire. This estrofest of women along with David

Goudreau also helped with the initial preparation, execution, and clean-up.

Cathleen Young, Simone Olson-Varela, Pam Webb, and Nancy Loewen served as our

bubbly, buoyant, and brilliant babes at the reception desk. The amazingly

energetic Rose Broome, Lori Patotzka, Cathleen Young, David Goudreau,

and Lindsay Vurek toiled until the bitter end, staying until 11:30 pm when the

last dish was cleaned, the last square inch of flooring was made spotless, and

the last box was carried out of the church. The incomparable David Goudreau did

everything else - again, before, during, and after -

everything.

 

Last, but clearly not least, Colleen & I are so indebted to our phenomenal

speaker, Dr. Michael Greger (about whom the accolades continue to pour in -

Michael will be back in the area next week speaking in Sunnyvale about

globalization and animal rights, and in February, speaking in Berkeley at the

Liberation Now! conference). Please do spread the word on these upcoming dates

(to get more information, check out Dr. Greger's website:

http://www.veganmd.org). While Michael offered wonderful food for thought at

Sunday's tea, our talented musicians, Lauren Hotchkiss and Tom Rudderow, offered

uplifting nourishment for our spirits. Hearfelt thanks to all.

 

Pictures from the event can be viewed at:

<http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3049aa4250a> (More are coming!)

 

Don't forget - Sunday's tea was a kickoff for our upcoming walkathons for Farm

Sanctuary. Oakland's walk will be happening on Saturday, September 7th while San

Francisco's walk is scheduled for Saturday, October 26th. Speakers, musicians,

and (arghh!) more food! Sign up today through either me (for

SF's walk) or Colleen (for Oakland's walk: colleen).

 

For the animals,

Alka