**Our monthly Volunteer Day at Skylands Animal Sanctuary is taking place this Saturday. While our volunteer list for this day is full, please be in the lookout on this blog and in our Facebook Group for our next sign ups, so you can get in on the fun as well!!**
Man, this past weekend was amazing! We had an awesome time at the Atlantic City Vegan Food Festival and 5K! From the food trucks to hearing Harley Quinn Smith address the crowds, I'm hoping you all had an excellent time like we did! If you made it over to Skylands Animal Sanctuary table, where most of us on the Vegan in NJ were - thanks for stopping by!
Anonymous for the Voiceless continues their 168 Hours of Truth demonstration in NYC this week. The Cube of Truth is a peaceful static demonstration akin to an art performance. These demonstrations operate in a structured manner that triggers curiosity and interest from the public; we attempt to lead bystanders to a vegan conclusion through a combination of local standard-practice animal exploitation footage and conversations with a value-based sales approach. To register as a volunteer for the Week of Truth, please click here. Masks, signs, and outreach literature are provided. Black upper clothing appropriate for the weather is essential, and please bring a fully charged laptop or tablet if you have one.
Newark Animal Save will be holding a vigil on Thursday morning at American Halal Meat in Newark. This Thursday our temps will be well into the 90s and probably feeling around 100. NAS will be there with water and love for the animals. Please make some time to come out for them. They are so scared and on top of that they are dying of heat exposure and thirst. Let’s give them a few moments of comfort before they are herded inside.
As part of the LGBTQ community, Medium & Divine Spiritual Life Coach and vegan, Cassandra Bodhi, has partnered with Garden State Equality as part of their week long event "Week of a Thousand Friends". Thursday's event will be filled with healing, laughter, community, and the opportunity to reunite & reconnect you with your loved ones who are now on the other side. Tickets are $80.00 and include a donation to Garden State Equality, light food, and a Gallery-Style reading by Cassandra Bodhi. Please contact Cassandrabodhievents@gmail.com for tickets.
Animal Connection will be hosting a bus trip to the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary on Saturday, the 20th. Transport out of the city in a luxury bus with high back reclining seats, DVD/CD players with drop down televisions where there will be a film screening. The bus will drop passengers at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. Woodstock Farm Sanctuary envisions a peaceful world rooted in respect and justice for all living beings. WFS rescues farmed animals and gives them care and sanctuary, connects animals with people to advance veganism, and advocate for animal rights in alliance with other social justice movements.
The 5th Annual Compassionfest will take place Saturday in Connecticut. The mission of Compassionfest is to unite like-minded people that believe in the values of being just, kindness, equality and compassion. We'll gather for delicious vegan food and cruelty-free product providers, non-profits, local artisans, inspiring performers, speakers, musical acts & healing workshops for all ages. This is an all-welcoming indoor/outdoor event with free admission.
Indraloka Animal Sanctuary of will host a Nurture & Nourish: Pig Pampering session on Saturday at their venue. From 11am-3pm, there will be scratching bellies, filling wallows, and feeding pineapples to the resident oinkers! The day includes a tour of the sanctuary and a delicious plant-based lunch. There will be plenty of time to spend with the other animal residents throughout the day, too!
RESOBOX will be hosting a Japanese Vegan Festival on Saturday, as well. As you may know, Japanese food is famous for its health benefits and many ingredients can also be used for vegan food! We will be featuring a variety of Japanese products which are Plant-based, Vegan-friendly, Gluten-free and Non-GMO! This festival will be a showcase of 100% vegan innovation, with interesting ancient Japanese ingredients for those who want to explore new possibilities with Vegan cooking! Tickets and more info for this event are available here. They will also be holding a cooking session with Keiko Tanaka, a Japanese plant-based food creator originally from Japan. She will create vegan meals with the ingredients featured at the event! Sign-ups for the cooking class are available here.
V Marks the Shop presents the Second Annual POWER OF COLOR MARKET at Friends Center in Philadelphia on Saturday from 12pm to 4pm! Celebrate community, diversity and inclusiveness at an all-vegan marketplace, featuring vegan & veg-friendly businesses led, owned & operated by persons of color!
On Sunday, July 21st, Chilis on Wheels will be providing plant based meals to those in need in the New Brunswick area. These meals are provided every third Sunday of the month. They are also looking for volunteers to help and can be contacted at newbrunswick@chilisonwheels.org.
VGN MKT At Market Hotel is a monthly indoor pop up market in NYC with some of the area's best vegan vendors. There is plenty of food but also apparel, bath & body products, and cosmetics. All vendors are 100% vegan all of the time not just vegan for the day. This is an all-ages event with a full bar for those over 21. As always, admission is free.
On Sunday, July 21st at 6pm, come watch Honey LaBronx, The Vegan Drag Queen (and host of Big Fat Vegan Radio) lip sync for her life as a fundraiser for Voters For Animal Rights and Save Movement NYC! Voters for Animal Rights’ mission is to help elect candidates who support animal protection, lobby for strong laws to stop animal cruelty, and hold elected officials accountable to humane voters. We are currently leading the Fur Free NYC and Ban Foie Gras coalitions to pass Intro 1476 and Intro 1378 to ban the sale of fur and foie gras in NYC! Save Movement NYC is laying the foundation to grow NYC into a Save Movement Hub, which will establish NYC as a leader for Animal Save, Climate Save, and Health Save. One of our first campaigns is to shut down slaughterhouses within the five boroughs! Through love-based, nonviolent direct action, we hope to unify and push the limits of what New York activists can accomplish. There is a $20 Suggested Donation at the door, but you are welcome to pay whatever you can - cash and credit cards accepted.
Join NJveg on Sunday for an early dinner at New Jersey’s top-rated vegan restaurant, Veganized, at their new and much larger location, followed by an optional walk in a local park! Please RSVP (required) by July 19 to NJveg.org@gmail.com or 609-557-7077.
Finally, the Jersey Shore chapter of Food Not Bombs will be feeding those in need at the Asbury Park Train Station between 5:00 and 6:00. If you want to donate something, contact them via their Facebook page or by emailing them at jerseyshorefoodnotbombs@yahoo.com. The Jersey City chapter meets at the Journal Square plaza at noon every Sunday. For donations, contact them via their Facebook page or at foodnotbombsjc@gmail.com.
Vegan in NJ events scheduled (*must be a member of the Facebook group to view private events):
If you are hosting an event or know of an event happening that you do not see on our events page, please send an email to cherise@veganinnj.com and I'll add it to the page ASAP and include it in my weekly breakdown.
We have started a Patreon page and we would love it if you could donate any amount you could. We will be working on setting up the tiers with more as time goes on, but for right now, you will get access to our feed, where we will be working through ideas and events we plan to host in the future, early blog posts, discount codes for events, and random merch an whatever we've got that we can send you! This will be a great place for you to have your voice heard about how we can make NJ the most vegan friendly place it can be. Proceeds from our Patreon will be going to maintain the website, brand, and afford us to be able to hire on more awesome vegans to help us on our journey to make NJ a vegan wonderland!
Thank you to those who came here via the Try Vegan email blast! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can learn more about the Try Vegan empire via their meal delivery (use that link for a free meal!), their food truck, or their clothing line. They also now have an app in the App Store or on Google Play!