Dear FVA members, friends & readers, again we share with you our FVA meet-up events! We now have 4617 signed up as ‘interested’ in our group & activities. As you can see, we continue to have a variety of opportunities for you to become involved. WHERE ARE YOU? Please join our Meet-Up, please sign up for events that interest you, then PLEASE attend the events and help the animals! (If for some reason you find that you are unable to attend, please be kind enough to change your RSVP. This will help us to better know what attendance to expect at our events and plan appropriately.)
FVA in the Community /Tablings:
10/2 & 10/13 - Tampa Bay Veg Fest Volunteer Planning Meetings, held at New Leaf Café, Tampa and Lotus Veg Rest in Pinellas Park respectively.
10/6, 11/3, 12/1 - Vegan Support Groups, Open Forums, held virtually via Zoom. Join great discussions with some regular attendees and new ones each time. No pressure to chat, but we always like everyone to introduce themselves. Join our hosts, Kim Gronemeyer, Psy.D., Myriam Parham, RD, CDCES & Cathy Unruh, Journalist, Author & Animal Advocate
11/5 – 11th Annual Tampa Bay Veg Fest – Co-sponsored by Florida Voices for Animals & Triangle Veg Fest, a wonderful and successful event with over 5,000 happy attendees, almost 100 amazing vendors, 75+ dedicated volunteers. If you weren’t there you missed great food, speakers, samples, music & more!
12/17 – As part of a PETA campaign to give out FREE Vegan Roasts for the Holidays to non-vegans, Chris Lichfoldt, FVA’s newest board member, distributed 23 Field Roasts to interested people at the St. Petersburg Saturday Market and was also part of the FVA Go Vegan demo organized by Hussein Mourtada & Denise Anderson. Thanks to Ted Ellquist for helping at this effort as well!
12/4 – Sarasota Veg Fest – Thanks to Kim Gronemeyer, event coordinator, and her team of volunteers; Susannah & Sherman Spencer, Nina Perino, Ted Ellquist, Lisa Bilirakis & Laura Weiss, for staffing FVA table.
12/17 – Al Lopez Park Cleanup - 7 volunteers came to help. In only one hour approximately 5 large trash bags were filled! THANKs to all!! Suzanne, Ted, Mikael & Annie, Emily, Laura & Ron
Al Lopez Park Year-Round Feral Cats feeding, trapping for medical care &/or sterilizations. Coordinated by Tom Bird, volunteers take turns once a week making sure the cats are fed. Thanks to Tom, Suzanne House, Ron Gray, Laura Pennington, Leslie Pandolfo, Amy Anderson, Gustavo Delavilla & Kenny Echezabal for doing this 365 days a year total dedication! IF anyone is interested in joining this elite team of feral cat feeders PLEASE let us know. We can use your help! Thank you.
Media & Other Activities:
10/11 - Pasco County Commissioners hearing which resulted in the passing of a ban of the retail sale of rabbits, Renee Rivard, Kim Gronemeyer, Nina Perino, Dara Crystal, Anne Marie Cancio were among those who spoke at this final hearing. Thanks to all others who have attended several meetings which culminated in this successful campaign!
12/7 – Hillsborough County Commissioners agreed to consider an ordinance similar to the one passed in Pasco County on 10/11/22 that banned the retail sale of rabbits. Renee Rivard, Dara Crystal, Betsy Coville, DVM and FVA activists who spoke in support at the hearing include Nina Perino, Suzanne House, Anne Marie Cancio, Laura Pennington, Charles Rumph (Farmacy Vegan Rest)
12/8 – REWARDs given by FVA and The Humane Society of Tampa Bay who joined to present them to Kathryn Barnes, the person who tipped the police in the arrest of the man who killed several cats at 3 Lakes Mobile Home park. Kathryn worked for about a year to find the person who committed these terrible crimes. She also buried the dead cats and provided medical care to one cat who survived but had to have a leg amputated. FOX news covered this event where Sherri Silk, Director of the HSTB gave Kathryn a $2500 check. Suzanne House and Diane Koon were there to give her a $1000 check from FVA.
FVA sends monthly donations to local sanctuaries:
Oct – Mercy Full Project - $200
Nov - Shelter Farm Sanctuary and Little Bear Rescue received $200 each emergency donations to help with damages related to Hurricane Ian
Nov – Mercy Full Project received $100 and 2 Dogs on a Mission received $70 donations from our TBVF raffle proceeds
FVA Demos for the Animals:
10/15, 11/26 & 12/17– Demos, Go Vegan! - at St. Pete Saturday Morning Market organized by Hussein Mourtada
11/3 & 12/22 – PETA protest targeted Shriner’s International Headquarters urging them to ban member clubs from hosting cruel animal circuses. FVA promoted both events.
12/11- Sea World protest with ARFF. Sea World secretly shipped 24 dolphins to Abu Dhabi to be exploited in a new park there. Ten of the dolphins came from Orlando – Thanks to Chris Lichfoldt for representing FVA!
In addition to the events above, some of the monthly activities held at several local vegan restaurants may be on hold. Please check our calendar or call the restaurant to check their schedules. In the meantime, PLEASE support vegan restaurants during this critical time. Order Take out!!!
Please check our FVA calendar to join us at these events so we can get to know each other. We hope to see you soon!
To support FVA's work, click here to DONATE. Thank you!
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