For Immediate Release December, 2012 Contacts: John Cunningham (410) 366-8343 Sonja Helman: [email protected] $10,000 IN COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP MONEY TO BE AWARDED BY VEGETARIAN GROUP The Vegetarian Resource Group announced that $10,000 in college scholarship money will be awarded to graduating high school students who have promoted vegetarianism in their schools and/or communities. Two awards of $5,000 each will be given. Students will be judged on their promotion of vegetarian and vegan diets in a positive way. For application information, visit [ http://www.vrg.org ]. Deadline for application is February 20, 2013. The student must be an American high school senior at time of application and plan on attending an American college. Past winners include: * An Iowa teen who worked with a group that provides vegetarian meals to hungry people in Des Moines, as well as Haiti and some parts of Africa and the United States. * A Washington State student who collected and distributed vegetarian food to homeless individuals, campaigned for a district wide Meatless Mondays school menu, started an animal rights club, and passed out thousands of vegan food samples. * Melissa Monette of Mililani, Hawaii, for her outstanding work in promoting vegetarianism one pound of food at a time. With diligence and the help of community members and donors, she was able to collect over 28,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables to feed over 133,000 individuals. * A boy from Illinois, who convinced his school cafeteria to serve veggie burgers as well as a vegetable and rice dish. * A student who stopped eating meat at the age of five after seeing cows on a family car trip. At her high school, there was a science health festival planned to be attended by 5,000 people. She contacted the food service person in charge and was informed that there could be vegetarian food if she would take charge of selling the items. She turned the usual menu of hot dogs and hamburgers into a mostly vegetarian menu and worked with the food service to create a selection of fruit salads, garden salads, garden burgers, soft tacos, taco pockets, veggie corn dogs, veggie chicken nuggets, chocolate soymilk, fruit juices, and more. * Nora Allen in Connecticut worked with a local supermarket to add more vegetarian foods and assisted a local nursing home in adding meatless options for their vegetarian residents. * A teen from Florida. whose work resulted in soy milk being sold in school vending machines, as well as in the cafeteria along with bean burritos and veggie burgers. For more information about The Vegetarian Resource Group scholarship contest, see [ http://www.vrg.org ]. The Vegetarian Resource Group is a non-profit organization which educates the public about vegetarianism. A vegetarian does not eat meat, fish, or fowl. A vegan is a vegetarian who does not use other animal products such as eggs and milk. For more information on vegetarianism, visit [ http://www.vrg.org ]. Interesting articles at [ http://www.vrg.org ] include: How many vegetarians are there in the United States? [ http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faq.htm#poll ] Vegan Sources of Calcium [ http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.php ] How can I be a vegetarian and create quick meals? See Meatless Meals for Working People (ISBN 0-931411—22-X), which features information about meatless options at fast food chains, a convenient meal plan, quick recipes, and more. And numerous vegetarian recipes are here. [ http://www.vrg.org/recipes/ ] Thinking about going vegan? Simply Vegan [ http://www.vrg.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1 ] (224) pages has over 160 quick and easy recipes, plus an extensive vegan nutrition section on topics such as protein, fat, iron, iodine, vitamin B12, pregnancy and the vegan diet, feeding vegan kids, and more. Also included are sample menus and meal plans for vegans and a Vegan My Plate. [ http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/MyVeganPlate.pdf ] Parents of vegetarian youngsters may also be helped by The Vegetarian Resource Group’s Parents’ E-Mail List, which is an opportunity for vegetarian parents to share ideas. For information about the Parents’ list and useful resources, visit [ http://www.vrg.org ], and click on Teens, Families, and Kids. Vegetarian Nutrition for Teenagers [ http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/teen_veg.pdf ] Where are restaurants I can eat out vegetarian? [ http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php ] For all of the above, go to [ http://www.vrg.org ]; write to The Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203; or e-mail [email protected] ###