New Organizer to the Meet-Up!

My name is Jamie and I’m your new organizer for the Baltimore Animal Rights Meet-Up and I’m very excited! The basic philosophy of this group, as I see it, is that we are a group of people who believe animals have a core right to live a life free of pain and suffering. Some of us care about cats and dogs and some of us have widened our circle of compassion to include ALL animals—not just animals with whom we share our homes. No matter where you fall on the spectrum or which animals are your particular passion, and no matter what your current diet consists of, we are really all the same if we care about animals! There's so much to talk about and learn from people in this group; those informed about animal issues and those who are new and want to learn more. There are probably folks who have been involved with activism for many years and those who are just learning about it, those that are vegan and those that are not, those that know lots of people who think just like them and those who are the only one they know who think animals have rights! No one will be judged for their point of view and ALL are welcome! Just come with an open mind to new ideas and good discussions!

To serve the needs of the variety of people on the Meet-Up, I am taking a 3-prong approach:

1. Promoting Education and Sharing of Information -- There are so many topics to include here and people who know the topics can lend their experience and knowledge to people who want to learn about them. We can have gatherings with topics such as:
--What issues affect animals? We can discuss all of the issues affecting wildlife, hunting, factory farming, fur, circuses, puppy mills, etc. etc. What local and national groups are out there? What are their philosophies? How do you decide who to support? What's the best way to raise funds for my group? What foods should you not eat to reduce animal suffering? If you eliminate those food, what the heck do you eat? What are all of those new ingredients and where do you buy them? Where do I find recipes? How about a Book Club where we can read and discuss books like Diet for a New America and many others?

2. Posting of Events—There are many groups-local and national- with many different points of view and you don’t have to agree with the posting or go to every event. But it wouldn’t be an Animal Rights Meet-Up if I didn’t make the information available. I might post a demonstration since there might be some people interested or it might be a fund raiser for a local group. You can pick and choose what you would like to attend!

3. Fun! Fun! Fun!—We can’t be serious all of the time and sometimes we just want to have fun with others who share our mindset! How about monthly restaurant visits? If you check out VegBaltimore.com you will see tons of restaurants offering vegan meals. Not only will we be rewarding those restaurants that offer this fare, but we will have fun eating our way around Baltimore! How about doing some hiking?There are great parks and trails practically at our fingertips in Baltimore such as in Patapsco and Gunpowde State Parks. Let’s get out there along with our dogs and hit the trails! Anyone up for tubing The Gunpowder? It’s not the rapids of Colorado but a great place to cool off from the August heat and loads of fun. I’m planning this for August!

Please feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts and ideas. You should start seeing events very soon!

For The Animals,
Jamie