SUPER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
Vegan in NJ will begin to host monthly volunteer days at Skylands Animal Sanctuary And Rescue in Wantage! Our first day, scheduled for Saturday 04/20, is booked to capacity, but please make sure you check the Facebook group, Instagram, and this blog to sign up for future dates.
Monday, April 15 (Don't forget to file your taxes!) there will be a clean-up group at Conant Park in Hillside. They will be collecting litter ranging from plastic bags to big plastic containers. Plastic bags will be provided. Please bring gloves and dress appropriately to weather. Recommended: water, boots, and long sleeves as we will be going near the river. The clean-up is kid friendly and parking is available.
The Climate Change, Coasts & Communities Symposium will be taking place over two days (Wednesday 04/17 and Thursday 04/18) at Monmouth University. The “new normal” of increased storm events, flooding, sea level rise, and coastal erosion from climate change presents daunting adaptation challenges for New Jersey in the years ahead. This symposium features leading experts in climate change adaptation law and science to discuss lessons learned from other states and countries to assist New Jersey in navigating these challenges. For more details and to register, please refer to the Facebook Event page.
Join the Rutgers Veg Society, Wednesday 04/17, for a powerful and thought-provoking lecture from world famous activist Ed Winters (aka Earthling Ed). Ed is a vegan educator, public speaker and content creator based in London, England. Winters is the co-founder and co-director of Surge, an animal rights organisation determined to create a world where compassion towards all non-human animals is the norm. A Vegan dinner will be served. Admission is free, but please RSVP here.
NJVeg will be hosting a Volunteer Day at Goats of Anarchy on Saturday, 04/20. GOA is an award-winning, vegan sanctuary for special needs baby goats (along with other animal friends that we just have to help). GOA is a registered 501c3, and all tax deductible donations go towards vet fees, food, shelter and prosthesis for the baby goats. Volunteer time begins at 10:30am and ends at 12:30pm sharp on Saturday. The farm closes promptly at 1pm. Make sure you take all your belongings and get all your ‘selfies’ taken with the goats by that time. Limit of 10 people. We fully rely on the time you are willing to volunteer for GOA. There are lots of different tasks like cleaning and refilling water buckets, ‘mucking’ the goat pools and stalls, cleaning out the pigs, horses, donkey, pony stalls and the chicken coops. A little fun sprinkled will be in there when the goats try to play with you! From time to time there are other projects that you may be asked to accomplish as well. Our resident caretakers will assist with cleaning assignments upon your arrival and you will be asked to complete and sign a Waiver Agreement. This is a dirty job! Prepare to work hard! Please keep in mind that all volunteers are required to be 18 or older. GOA is also looking for long-term, weekly, midweek volunteers.
After you've worked up an appetite at GOA, join NJVeg for lunch at Grounded for Life Cafe in Clinton. All are welcome. Please RSVP by April 18 to NJveg.org@gmail.com or 609-557-7077.
Families (children especially), seniors, young adults, middle agers, couples, singles, etc. are invited to a super special Passover celebration on Saturday evening, April 20th hosted by Bnai Tov. Passover is also known as Zman Cheruteinu, the Time of Our Freedom - it is a grand celebration of freedom - and how contradictory it would be to claim celebrating freedom while we have animals on our table whose freedom has been taken from them - thus, come celebrate Passover with a Vegan Seder - no animals or animal products used whatsoever. While you can and should RSVP and express interest on the Facebook event page, to actually be on the roster to attend and participate, you will need to direct message Dr. Andy Mars (aka Ravi Avi) on Facebook or via email to Rav@BnaiTov.org. A head count is needed for accuracy.
Anonymous for the Voiceless will be hosting another Cube of Truth demonstration in New York City on Saturday as well. This will be a pre-Easter Unity Cube with AV: Queens and AV: Bronx. People will gather for NYC Save Movement vigils outside two live markets earlier in the day and then proceed over to the subway to hold The Cube. Exact location will be determined by weather. It will be held in either the courtyard or inside the station. TVs, generously being brought by Queens and Bronx, will be used at the vigils. Please bring your laptops and tablets fully charged for The Cube!
Another Positive Potluck will happen Saturday night at the George St Co-Op in New Brunswick. A peaceful and positive potluck gathering of friends, the potluck tradition is that everyone brings a little something, and together we’ll have a wonderful, varied feast. The Co-op is a vegetarian space, so please bring only vegetarian or vegan foods that are pre made. you may use the cafe oven to heat up your dish If needed .Please RSVP at least a day or two in advance if possible and bring something to serve at least 5-10 people.
On Sunday, April 21st, Chilis on Wheels will be providing plant based meals to those in need in the New Brunswick area. They are also looking for volunteers to help. These meals are provided every third Sunday of the month.
Finally, the Jersey Shore chapter of Food Not Bombs will be feeding those in need at the Asbury Park Train Station between 3:00 and 4:00. If you want to donate something, contact them via their Facebook page or by emailing them at jerseyshorefoodnotbombs@yahoo.com. The Jersey City chapter meets at the Journal Square plaza at noon every Sunday. For donations, contact them via their Facebook page or at foodnotbombsjc@gmail.com.
Vegan in NJ events scheduled (*must be a member of the Facebook group to view private events):
4/20 Skylands Volunteer Day* (FULL)
5/18 Skylands Volunteer Day* (FULL)
Vegan in NJ is raising money through Crowdrise for Skylands Animal Sanctuary. We also have some new team members that can be found on our Crowdrise. If you are interested in signing up for the 5k and donating/joining our team to fundraise, please send me an email for your discount code for the race and proof of donation/team sign up! Proceeds from our apparel, which are available with our official design (thanks Lisette!) are available on Teespring!
If you are hosting an event or know of an event happening that you do not see on our events page, please send an email to cherise@veganinnj.com and I'll add it to the page ASAP and include it in my weekly breakdown.
We have started a Patreon page and we would love it if you could donate any amount you could. We will be working on setting up tiers as time goes on, but for right now, you will just get access to our feed, where we will be working through ideas and events we plan to host in the future. This will be a great place for you to have your voice heard about how we can make NJ the most vegan friendly place it can be. Proceeds from our Patreon will be going to maintain the website, brand, and afford us to be able to hire on more awesome vegans to help us on our journey to make NJ a vegan wonderland!
Thank you to those who came here via the Try Vegan email blast! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can learn more about the Try Vegan empire via their meal delivery (use that link for a free meal!), their food truck, or their clothing line. They also now have an app in the App Store or on Google Play!