Let Live Foundation

Let Live is hosting a community get-together, please join us and help this event be a success.

When: Sunday, December 13th, 5-8pm
Where: Matt Dishman Community Center (77 NE Knott, Portland, OR)
Cost: Free

Activities:

• There will be a volunteering open house. Come meet local animal groups, see what they are all about, and see who you might like to get involved with.
• “Re-thinking the Holiday Table” talk with Michelle Schwegmann. Will you be sharing your holidays with non-vegans? Michelle will share some tips on how to keep the tension low, and will arm you with several sure to please recipes.
• Cooking demo with Aaron Adams, chef at Portobello Vegan Trattoria. Come hear Aaron discuss crowd pleasing vegan entrees everyone will love.
• Cooking demo with Lisa Higgins, owner of Sweetpea Baking Company. Lisa will discuss holiday desserts, come see how the pro’s do it.
• Come sample treats from local vegan companies.

We’d love you RSVP over at the Facebook Event page, thanks. We’d also love you to please help spread the word about this. Bring a friend or three. Repost on your FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, Blog, whatever. Anything helps.

Hope to see you there.

xoxo
Let Live

***Please leave comments on the Facebook note HERE or by emailing info @ letlivefoundation.org. Thanks.***

The Let Live Foundation has been putting on sorta monthly animal rights events for 2 years now and it is getting very discouraging seeing the same few people come. Especially considering the number of people I’ve met around the country who think Portland has a thriving community of activists.

Last year we figured the low turnouts might have been because our topics didn’t have a broad enough appeal. This year we tried very hard to broaden that appeal by doing bigger, better events but doesn’t seem to be helping.

Last month we had Lisa Shannon, who is a longtime vegan and human rights activist, speak about her experiences starting a super successful project from the ground up. She has a book coming out about her work, and was on Oprah recently. We were worried the room we’d rented was going to be too small as it only held 60 or so people. 5 to 10 people came. I assure you everyone in the room will tell you they were profoundly moved by her story. Hearing her speak left me very inspired and with a ton of information I didn’t have before.

Last night we showed the award winning Mercy For Animals documentary “Fowl Play” at the Hollywood Theater (we hoped to cover the cost of renting the theater with donations) and maybe 15 people showed up, outside of the organizers. The afternoon before we had Matt Rossell lead a discussion about how to discuss fur and the fur industry. Matt has more experience with fur, on the street, and working undercover on a fur farm, than anybody else I can think of. Outside of the organizers, I think there were 10 people there.

We started Let Live Foundation because we felt Portland had a lot of energetic people who just needed an entry point to get active. In a town with this many vegans/veggie people and the reputation it has as being the vegan capitol of the world, it felt like a safe bet that a lot of folks would be interested in events if we put them on.

We’ve been very deliberate in our language and choice of subject matter to be as inclusive as possible so new folks don’t feel intimidated and more seasoned activists feel that their experience and input is welcomed at events. We’ve tried to get across that we’re trying to build community, no matter where you are in your knowledge, activism, etc. We’ve tried to schedule events at different times and on different days to accommodate peoples schedules.

We’ve tried everything we can think of to expand the community of people here and attendance at our events is not going up.

So, what should we do? We need feedback desperately because we are using up our scant resources (money, time, enthusiasm) and don’t seem to be making any progress with our goals. This has been especially discouraging lately, for me personally, because I feel like the quality of the events we’re doing is really high. I’ve learned so much lately and gotten so much inspiration from the speakers and film we’ve shown.

We could really use some specific feedback about what is keeping people away from these events or how folks in other towns get people to show up for stuff. We’d also love suggestions for topics people might like us to put on events about.

We’re doing these events to try and help folks be better informed, feel some community, and feel more empowered. When people don’t come out for stuff we are left wondering what we can do differently, so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks to Matt for filling in at the last minute.

****We’re very sorry to have to cancel our premiere of “Skin Trade” due to a family emergency. It will be rescheduled, we promise. BUT, in the meantime, please come out to “Fowl Play” instead. Bring somebody who needs to see it.****

National surveys show that the majority of Americans are opposed to the inhumane treatment of farm animals. In fact, Americans are in opposition to the very treatment animals face every day on factory farms. This disconnect that people have between the food they buy and the industries they support is exactly what agribusiness counts on to maintain its bottom line.

However, a growing movement of people are opposed to factory farming and the commodification of animals. They are organizing, documenting the living nightmare that animals face, and speaking out against animal agriculture.

Fowl Play illuminates the plight of factory-farmed laying hens through interviews with people who are fighting diligently to save them. A story of hope emerges as footage recorded inside battery cage and other facilities is balanced with personal accounts of the individuals working to protect the often-forgotten victims of the egg industry.

The film also introduces us to animals who survive the system: Hope, a hen left to die in a garbage can but then rescued by activists; and Consuela, a hen gassed on a farm when she was no longer useful but who survives to be rescued at a landfill.

The suffering that animals face on factory farms won’t end until enough people are motivated to change it. Fowl Play connects the dots between consumers and the practices they support, and leaves viewers with a groundbreaking message of personal change and community outreach.

When: Monday, November 16, 2009 @ 7pm
Where: Hollywood Theatre, 4122 SE Sandy Blvd
Cost: Free, but we’d really appreciate a donation to help cover costs

The Let Live Series Presents: How to Discuss the Fur Industry with Matt Rossell

As the chill of winter descends across the United States, many will set their sights on the perfect winter coat: thick and fitted with a nice German Shepherd trim. Sound ridiculous? Unfortunately, it is not as far-fetched as it seems. Often purposely mislabeled by manufacturers as “faux fur,” dog and cat fur products are common in today’s marketplace despite being banned in 2000 after undercover video from Swiss Animal Protection, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society International exposed dogs and cats being disemboweled, skinned alive and hung still screaming from metal wire.

Such deceptive practices are common use in the fur industry, which kills more than 3 million animals in the United States alone. Despite a steep decline in demand in the 1980s and 1990s, fur has recently made a dramatic resurgence due to fashion campaign tactics toting fur as “green” and promises by manufacturers that the fur was obtained using “ethical fur sourcing.” This talk will focus on what these terms really mean and give you the tools you need to discuss the facts about fur knowledgeably and persuasively.

The How to Discuss the Fur Industry presentation featuring Matt Rossell will be held on November 15, 2009, at 1p.m. at the Matt Dishman Community Center, 77 NE Knott Street in Portland, Oregon. ADMISSION IS FREE.

The Let Live Series is a monthly series of speakers, workshops and social events dedicated to promoting animal rights activism and education in Portland, Oregon. Sponsored by the Let Live Foundation.