NOTE FROM THE COORDINATORS
NETWORKING AND BRINGING US TOGETHER THROUGH VEGANISM
Among the reasons there is such division in our country and abroad is that individuals only associate with those like themselves. The Vegetarian Resource Group has always been about working towards a better world. In fact, one of our favorite activities is connecting people from different backgrounds and different skills and resources so they can work together in a positive way without hurting others, and each can gain from the interaction.
Health Coach Marcy called us wanting to volunteer. Another member was sponsoring a class at a local program instructing homeless men on life skills, and needed someone to teach vegan cooking/nutrition sessions. We were able to connect them, and Marcy took on this task.
A few months ago we had one intern from a city school, which is about 44% economically disadvantaged, and an intern from a suburban high school with about 15% disadvantaged students and known for being part of a school district with racial incidents. Two young people who normally would not have run into each other, both finished the internship saying they now have a new best friend.
We're so glad to have Rissa Miller as our new Vegetarian Journal Senior Editor. She brings valuable journalism and photography skills, organizing experience from running Baltimore Vegan Drinks events, and even has a minor in nutrition. And thank you to our previous editor of ten years, Keryl Cryer, who has given technical advice to Rissa, and is volunteering to help proofread and edit the Journal.
We had a volunteer from France, who worked with an incoming Maine college student to do a Vegan French Cooking video. She said, "My favorite project was definitely the cooking video I did with a fellow intern-turned-friend. We spent the day filming and laughing, especially making crepes." See the video at: https://youtu.be/vmRhqpU9f8I.
A young VRG intern stated, "We visited a vegetarian (of over 60 years) at his wildlife preserve and 23 acres of protected land. His interesting stories inspired me for a lifetime of activism and service to the world." Our other intern wrote, "The most influential project of my internship was when I worked with our R.D., Reed Mangels, on a piece for the Scientific Update column in Vegetarian Journal. I had to read and interpret an article from a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Reed assigned me an article on the greenhouse gas emissions of certain diets and worked with me as I wrote the summary. I hope to work as a journalist in the future, analyzing bills and laws pertaining to the environment, and displaying the information in a way that you don't need a degree in biology to understand. This was amazing practice for that specific career goal." We're so glad that our experts, supporters, and members are helping to prepare young people for future activism.
Debra Wasserman & Charles Stahler
Coordinators of The Vegetarian Resource Group
