Please join us for our next Let Live event! Please?

Sunday, March 21, 2010 / 1:15-3:00pm
Matt Dishman Community Center (77 Northeast Knott Street, Portland, OR)

lauren Ornelas, Founder and Director of the Food Empowerment Project, will be discussing how to use food choices to create a more just world.

Eating a vegan diet is certainly the first step in that direction, but do you drink soda or eat chocolate? Learn about how what you eat and drink might not be connected to animal exploitation but might indeed have direct connections to human exploitation!

Also learn about the unjust food system that currently exists in the U.S. regarding access to healthy foods.

lauren has been involved in the animal rights movement for more than 20 years and has done undercover investigations of factory farms and conducted successful campaigns against corporations such as Trader Joe’s and Pier 1 Imports.

The written word is a powerful tool activist-consumers can use to effect change.  Join us for a letter writing party targeting Nordstrom and its business practice of carrying designer clothing lines that feature fur.  As a family-owned store, Nordstrom prides itself on its responsiveness to the demands of its customers.  Help us bring attention to this important issue and demand Nordstrom eliminate fur from its stores.  Letter templates and information about fur will be available to help get you started.  Don’t want to write to Nordstrom?  No problem – work on a Letter to the Editor or anything that inspires you.  Bring an appetizer/light dish to share, connect with other activists and get the word out!

Please join us at the Matt Dishman Community Center (77 Northeast Knott Street) on Sunday, Febraury 21, 2010, at 1:15pm.

PS. Please RSVP at our Facebook page, thanks.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let Live is very happy to get Jasmin Singer back to town to help kick start some increased participation here in Portland. Bring a friend or two and help spread the word pretty please.

When: January 24, 2010 / 1pm
Where: Matt Dishman Community Center, 77 NE Knott Portland, OR 97212, Classroom A
Cost: Free
RSVP over at this event’s FaceBook page if you please.

If you saw a dog getting kicked, you would probably do all you could to help her. But what if you don’t actually see her getting kicked, yet you know for sure it’s happening? Do you just shake your head and say “that’s too bad…”? As long as you’re not kicking the dog yourself, is it really up to you to do something about it?

Practicing non-violence is a necessary and harmonious way of life. But when it is up to you to take “Ahimsa” one step further and – in the words of Gandhi – truly “be the change you wish to see in the world”?

In many ways, we are gaining traction as a movement: pro-animal legislation is popping up left and right; vegan celebrities are coming out by the masses to speak up for animals; cruelty-free cuisine is becoming more widespread and delicious than ever before; positive animal rights-themed media coverage and book publications are on the rise; and it seems that people are “seeing the light” and going vegan before our very eyes.

Shockingly though, the percentage of vegans is so small that it is still considered by some to be within the “margin of error.” For those of us who spend our evenings at vegan potlucks, meet-ups, and social gatherings with like-minded friends, this can seem unreal. Still, outside of the “vegan bubble,” ditching meat and dairy is usually considered “fringe” and animal rights is often seen as “radical”.

That is why it is absolutely necessary that vegans extend their advocacy to beyond just their meals, and speak up for animals in their daily lives. If everyone did just one thing a day for animals – one thing that can easily fit into your life as you know it – perhaps we’d exit the margin of error, wake up the rest of the world to the fact that veganism is a moral imperative and animal rights is a must, and create real change.

Margin of Certainty: from Veganism to Activism is an interactive workshop which will be led by Jasmin Singer, Farm Sanctuary’s campaigns manager. Jasmin last visited Portland when she spoke at the 2009 Let Live Northwest Animal Rights Conference. She is one of the voices behind the blogs “Making Hay” and “VEGdaily,” and her writing has also appeared in blogs such as “Crazy Sexy Life” and “Civil Eats,” as well as print publications like Satya and Heeb. Jasmin is also a contributor to VegNews Magazine. She has presented at numerous conferences including Taking Action for Animals, SUNY Social Justice Conference, and Farm Sanctuary’s Hoe Down. Last year, at age 29, VegNews named her a “20 Under 30.” Visit her at www.jasminsinger.com.

from Let Live Foundation on Vimeo.

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

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.

Click here to view the embedded video.