The Power of One Animal Rights Group's Accomplishments
"Changes can come from the power of many, but only when the many come together to form that which is invincible.... the power of one."
-Bryce Courtenay (author of The Power of One)
* When this group was founded in Fall of 2003, we had only approximately 45
interested members. Today we have approximately 200 interested members, and
we continue to get e-mails every day from more people who would like to join
the group!
Our group has participated in a myriad of events & campaigns to benefit
animals of all kinds.
They are as follows:
- Biggest accomplishment- Got 1,000 signatures on our petition to cafeteria
to include at least one vegan entree at every meal, organized a vegan food
show on campus where between 400 and 500 people got to try delicious vegan
meals that could be served on campus & gave us their feedback via a survey,
and got the food services director to agree to add the options!
- A couple from our group attended the Demand Liberation Now Student Animal
Rights Conference in Gainesville, FL where we had the privilege of hearing
Loring Harkness from PETA speak, along with many other acclaimed activists (Josephine Bellacomo, Patrick Kwan, etc.).
- Participated in World Farm Animals Day every Fall since the group began.
We have participated in both the Walk for Farm Animals (Farm Sanctuary) and
FARM's Meatout Walk on World Farm Animals Day (October 2nd)
- Our group has hosted a myriad of notorious animal rights speakers on our
campus, including Howard Lyman, Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM, Dr. Michael
Greger, and George Eisman. We have booked Carol Adams to speak this Fall to
present her "Sexual Politics of Meat" slideshow and are working on getting
Farmer Brown here as well.
- Club Participated in 2 KFC Protests- both with PETA
One in Gainesville, FL and the other in Fort Myers, FL
- We've had documentary showings on campus including "Peaceable
Kingdom," "The Witness," "The Emotional Lives of Farm Animals" and "Super
Size Me"
- We have regular tabling events where we show PETA's "Meet your Meat" and
Goldfinger's "Free Me" Video, have lots of literature at our tables for
people to take (and pass out literature to people), and have free samples of
good vegan food, usually Gardenburger Meatless Riblets (always a big success)
- We have participated in Vegan Outreach's Adopt-a-College Program where we
passed out hundreds of "Why Vegan" brochures
- We have co-sponsored many events, including potlucks & speaker events with
the Sanibel-Captiva Vegetarian Society and the Southwest Florida Vegetarian
Society
- We now have one of PETA's Vegetarian Starter Kit Bins in our cafeteria so
that people can make more informed choices at lunch!
- We took a club field trip/ restaurant outing to the all-vegan restaurant
in Fort Lauderdale called "Sublime," where many people got to try a vegan
meal for the first time!
- We have had Lisa Petruska from the Animal Refuge Center come out to our
school to talk about the widespread pet overpopulation problem and about the
importance of spaying & neutering our pets and adopting from shelters
instead of buying from pet shops! She also showed "Kissing the Animals
Goodbye" each time, which really affected all of the attendees. We also prompted many of the attendees to be on ARC's Volunteer List, and many of them still volunteer there to this day!
- We had a demonstration before Christmas to encourage spaying & neutering & boycotting pet shops!
- Held a "Respecting All Wildlife" Event on campus with the University
Environment Club to inform people about the exotic pet trade industry and
how to help wild animals
- Co-sponsored an Earth Day Event with the University Environment Club and
provided all vegan food for the event- also passed out PETA's "Think you can
be a meat-eating environmentalist? Think Again!" brochures and lots of veg.
starter kits
- Tour & Volunteer Day at Animal Refuge Center where we cleaned the dogs'
lodges, helped give baths, walked dogs, etc.
- Tour & Volunteer Day co-sponsored with the University Environment Club to
the Great Ape Sanctuary in Wauchula, FL
- Leafleted to encourage people to "VOTE NO ON 4" in Florida both on FGCU
campus and in community-- an amendment that would support the greyhound
racetracks in Florida
- Ongoing bi-weekly meetings (except Summer) to inform people about current
campaigns and cover various animal rights topics including information about
animals raised for food (factory farm, slaughterhouse coverage), animals
used in experimentation (vivisection coverage... info on product testing
& "research"), animals in entertainment (rodeos, circuses, animals prisoned
in aquariums, zoos, including roadside zoos & petting zoos), animals used
for clothing (fur trade industry, the leather industry, wool industry, silk,
etc.), fishing & hunting info, etc. Always have brochures on each of these
topics at every meeting.
- Katie Hammer had the privilege of being an intern at Farm Sanctuary for one month!
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Current Campaigns & Planned Events:
- Implementing a Student-Choice Policy for Dissections at FGCU & insisting that this policy be printed on the syllabi of every class that participates in animal dissections
- Creating a Southwest Florida Vegetarian Dining Guide to hand out at
tabling events and in community
- Working to improve conditions for sentinel chickens caged on campus
(ultimate goal- to end program and get county to utilize alternatives)
- Continued KFC Protests
- Getting cruelty-free items in bookstore on campus (products not tested on
animals as well as more vegan items)
- Bonita Greyhound Racetrack Demos
- Pet Kingdom Protests (they sell exotic animals)
- I am now a member of the FGCU Dining Services Committee and will keep
pressure on them to always offer adequate vegan options on campus
- Leafletting at FGCU campus and in community
- Walk for Farm Animals on October 2nd
- Carol Adams to speak at FGCU on November 12th
- A few other speakers on campus- TBA
- FGCU Veg Fest- to bring in lots of good vegan food to campus in a picnic
style
- Vegan Potlucks
- More documentary showings-- will be showing Howard Lyman's New "Mad
Cowboy" documentary
- More Restaurant Outings to have some yummy vegan food!
- Working with restaurants in Fort Myers to add vegan options to their menu--
making presentations to managers, offering them to be on www.vegguide.com
and on our Southwest Florida Vegetarian Dining Guide
- More Tours & Volunteering in Community- will go to CROW this semester
(Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife).. others TBA
- Another trip to Sublime in Fort Lauderdale at end of semester
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Animal Rights Awards/ Media Coverage We Have Received:
- Katie Hammer (Pres.) received the "Outstanding Activist Award" from PETA2 for the group's efforts in
getting the vegan options in the cafeteria
- Katie Hammer received the "Most Outstanding Student Organization Leader of the year"
award from Florida Gulf Coast University
- Katie Hammer received the "Volunteer of the Month Award" at Animal Refuge Center (a
no-kill shelter in North Fort Myers)
- Our Group was the Featured Activist Group on Meatout's Newsletter in
March! Check it out at the following link:
http://www.meatoutmondays.org/05-03-28.htm
- Our Group was featured in a Campus Activism article in the News-Press (the
most well-known newspaper in Fort Myers) called "FGCU students aim to spark
activist spirit," in which Katie Hammer was interviewed and quoted
- Dr. Neal Barnard was interviewed in the News-Press before speaking
- We were featured in the Naples Sun Times for the George Eisman event we co-
sponsored with the Southwest Florida Vegetarian Society, in which Katie Hammer was
interviewed and quoted
- We got Fox 4 News Coverage at the KFC protest we attended with PETA
- We got Fox 4 News Coverage at the Meatout Food Show we put on at FGCU
- We got WGCU Radio coverage at the Meatout Food Show