Can you spare 47 minutes?

Many years ago, in anticipation of gifts and cash that I knew were headed my way for my birthday, I asked family and friends to donate to their local animal shelter or local HIV/AIDS organization rather than gift me anything. I have been thrilled to hear of all of the groups doing great work around the country receiving donations and in fact many of those same family and friends ask for the same thing now.

This year for my birthday I was thinking of the same thing. Now with this blog, and being connected to even more amazing people who want to change the world, I have thought of something different. And to be honest with you I am going to be 47 and asking someone to donate $47.00 is a little different than asking them to donate $25.00.

So this year I am asking people do donate 47 minutes. Everyone is busy, I know. And as I have written many times, 47 minutes can change the world. Will you donate 47 minutes of your day in the coming week to make someones day? To be a voice for the voiceless? To change the world for someone?

I am sure that many who read our blog already donate their time, so the thought process on what to do shouldn't take very long. Here are some ideas just in case:

Walk a dog at your local animal shelter.

Play with a cat at your local animal shelter.

Make a vegan pie for your neighbor.

Read a book at your local elementary school.

Bring vegan muffins or brownies to the staff at your favorite local non-profit.

Drop off dinner at a friends house.

Call someone you love who you haven't spoken to in a long time.

Write a letter to someone serving time in prison.

Go to your local highway intersection and clean up the trash.

Serve a meal at your local homeless shelter.

Gather used blankets from your neighbors and donate them to your local animal sanctuary.

Take a platter of baked deliciousness to the USO Welcome Center at your local airport.

Write a letter to an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.

 Whew. I should stop. As I write, my wheels are turning and I am imagining all who read this stepping out of their busy, maybe hectic lives and taking 47 minutes in service of others.

You don't have to do this alone. Do something with a group of friends. I promise you that your action will not only make someones day, but add a ton of cheer to your day as well!

Thank you for reading and thank you for being so amazingly supportive of our blog!

Set up a library display!

I am at our local library having just set up our vegan display. I wanted to share this with all of our readers as this is a wonderful way to promote your activism regardless of the cause. Our local library has let us set up a vegetarian/vegan display three times now, and each time prior to this they have gotten incredible feedback. Last time we did this they set up an assortment of veg and vegan cookbooks and they couldn't keep up with the demand to check them out!

I love our local library and come here often. I frequently check in with them to see when I can get on the list for the display. I'm not sure what the policies are where you live, but here in Jefferson County, Colorado, one basically just needs to sign up on the list. Displays are on a monthly basis so once you sign up you just wait until your month comes and then arrive the first day of that month to set up your display.

For our displays we have used vegan food item boxes to promote the wide variety of vegan foods. This time I just set up the display with several vegan cookbooks, veg starter kits from PCRM and Vegan Outreach, and a couple of tshirts from PETA and Mercy For Animals. I like to keep the display simple and with plenty of room around the items in the display so folks can easily read the information and book titles. If you have a local event coming up and have a card or flyer to promote it, I highly suggest adding that. With Veg Fest Colorado coming up later this year I also added their postcard to our display so people can learn about that event.

Setting up a library display is such a great way to promote and educate around what is important to you. Hundreds of people a day will see this display and if our past history maintains, many of those will check out a veg cookbook. And it barely takes any time at all to plan it and set it up.

Please let us know if you set up a library display. We'd love to hear all about it!

Thanks for reading!