Doing my small part

Talking to someone while protesting the dog vivisection labs at CU. They were shut down in 2003.

I was once at a fur protest and a passerby asked me why we (the protesters) didn't help children or the poor. I simply told him that he didn't know us at all and he had no idea who we were or what we did when we were not protesting fur. He agreed.

I had quite a busy week. At my day job I am a fundraiser for an agency that serves homeless youth. On Wednesday we served 120+ youth a Thanksgiving dinner. I walked around chatting with many youth that I know, and the room was quiet. I thought of the phrase "Peace on Earth. Good will to everyone" as a large group of people seemed so quiet, so peaceful.

Thanksgiving morning I was at the same place, our drop-in center, and was able to be a loving presence as youth who live on the streets came in for a hot breakfast.

Sometimes I feel I have had a victory at work when I leave a meeting with a donor carrying a nice sized check. Other times it's the smile I see in a youth who has lived a life filled with trauma. Then I get an email from a blog reader who is in their third week of being vegan, reading the wonderful news while one of our rescue dogs is laying stretched out on my lap.

Thanksgiving day we had a house full of friends who we love so much and who are such important parts of our lives. Every one of them makes the world a better place for all living beings, in their own way. Mike and I have a life filled with people who take action against animal torture, human rights abuses and hate.

Some days I feel like I do not do enough. No matter how much each of us does, there is something right behind it. It can and does get overwhelming at times.

This blog has made a huge difference in how I feel I can be effective in making the world a better place. Today is the last day of our dog and cat food drive for Animal Haus and I have been blown away by the amount of food we have had donated. I'll have official numbers later. Over a hundred blog readers and supporters donated food or made an online donation. Incredible.

We all have the power to make the world a better place for all living beings. In our own way. No action is too small. Our compassion and passion can rock it.

To all of our amazing readers, thank you. Thank you for what you do every day to make this world a better place!

And thanks for reading!

Our newest family member!

This past Monday we adopted our newest family member, Rose! We are so excited!

Rose was rescued during a raid on a puppy mill. For seven years all she has been used for is to produce puppies. We know her life was terrible because her skin is in bad shape, she is very skiddish (definitely has been hit) and had to have all of her teeth pulled.

Rose is a total love. She is slowly getting used to us and is seeming less fearful every day. Since arriving, she has slept next to my head every night.

We got to meet her last Friday night. It was a surprise for Mike as I told him I wanted to take him somewhere. He had no idea it was to meet a sweet Yorkie at the Denver Dumb Friends League. Within ten minutes of arriving she was on Mike's lap and a few minutes later on mine. We loved her already. Since she hadn't been spayed yet and needed the dental surgery, we had to wait. Perhaps a week.

Monday morning we chatted and were wondering about her. I told Mike I'd call at 11:00am when they opened. They called me at 9:00am and told me to come get her.

Mike was there when they opened.

We were reminded of all of the challenges that puppy mill rescues go through. We already knew all that because of past fosters. No challenge was going to keep Rose from us.

I'm sure you'll hear all about Rose as she settles in. More to come for sure.

Thanks for reading. And if you don't know about puppy mills, please Google them and find out about these horrible places that only exist because people buy puppies at pet stores.

Hate comes to The Gay Vegans

When you have a blog called The Gay Vegans you have to expect that not everyone is going to dig you. I get it all of the time. The gay part, the vegan part, the not vegan enough part, the smack from folks in different communities who just don't agree with something I have written about.

I'm used to all of that. And in many cases have had great conversations with people who I disagree with.

This morning I woke up to a nice serving of hate on our Facebook page. This is the stuff I don't like. As you know, we're in the middle of a two week dog and cat food drive for Animal Haus so we (us and our readers) can support those who are having tough financial times and need a little help with food for their companion animal.

I decided to use Facebook ads for the first time and had great success. The Gay Vegans blog was introduced to many people and we got donations from people we had never met.

Apparently our ad ended up on someones page who does not like gay people. He decided to post on our blog's Facebook page: "Keep your fag SHIT to yourself". He wrote more, in  acouple of places on our page, but no need to go into that. I was stunned. I mean we all have to look at Facebook ads that we wish we didn't have to. This dude took it to another level.

I was suddenly facing a reality that I had honestly forgotten about. We have a ton of readers and we get so much love, respect and kindness form them. We also get disagreement. But we don't get a lot of hate. Every once in a while we do, and it takes me aback.

I went to this gentleman's Facebook page and his first post was a photo that said something about hoping to be able to bless someone today.

I hope he's able to do that too.

Hate is a terrible thing. I write about it often. Only we have the power to stop it.

Thank you to all of you who have supported this blog. And more thanks to all of our readers who have donated to the dog and cat food drive!

And remember that you do not need to live in Denver to support the drive. You can make an online donation to Animal Haus at animalhaus.org . No donation is too small!

Thanks for reading!

Our dog and cat food drive

We are almost finished with our first week of our two week dog and cat food drive in support of Animal Haus, a Denver charity that gives away food to folks who are having financial difficulties so that they have a better chance of keeping their companion animal.

I have been blown away by y'alls response! I am super grateful to all of you who have dropped of food at one of our location or who have made a donation to Animal Haus on their website.

You can still support us as we move into week two.

If you live in Denver, you can drop off dog and cat food at:

Urban Peak, 730 21st Street, Denver Monday - Friday from 8am - 5pm.

Planet Pet, 4338 Tennyson Street, Denver Monday - Friday from 10am - 7pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11am - 4pm.

You can purchase vegan dog and cat food at Nooch Vegan Market, 3360 Larimer Street, any day from 11am - 6pm.

Our Facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/534208730001834/

You can make an online donation here: http://animalhaus.org/

Remember, any amount of a donation will make a difference in an animals life!

Thank you! Please help us to continue to rock it for those experiencing tougher times and for the companion animals they adore.

Thanks for reading!