It’s no secret that 2018 was a huge year for the vegan, plant-based, and animal rights movements around the world. The availability of plant-based, cruelty-free foods increased globally and in the US, protections for animals expanded with the passing of Proposition 12 in California and a vote to end greyhound racing in Florida. 

In Minnesota, over six (vegan!) restaurants opened or went entirely vegan, three all-vegan food trucks started driving around the Twin Cities, and Twin Cities Veg Fest became the largest veg fest in the Midwest! And we can’t forget to mention that Minneapolis was named Veg News’ 2018 City of the Year.

CAA’s mission is to encourage people to embrace their empathy for farmed animals and move toward a plant-based diet. We do this through increasing awareness of farmed animal suffering, building community with plant-based eating, and nurturing advocates in the Twin Cities region. Our work is made possible by your support.

We aimed toward raising $24,000 in December 2018 to continue expanding our work for the animals. While we didn’t reach that goal, we came so close––raising $23,800!––ensuring that we will be able to have a strong start in 2019. Here’s a quick recap of what we did this year and where we’re headed in 2019:

• We brought in about $30,000 more in individual donations than planned during 2018; this will go towards building a reserve and the eventual hiring of a community organizer to expand our work
• Attendance at Twin Cities Veg Fest grew over 28% from 2017 to 2018––thanks to your support, we can continue to work toward creating the most exciting veg fest in the Midwest for a growing attendee base
• Bridges of Respect continues to provide humane education for students around the Twin Cities metro––we can’t wait to see where they go this year
• We launched Wholesome Minnesota in January 2018 and were awarded a grant from A Seed Of Change to continue expanding this work to bring plant-based food to institutional cafeterias in 2019
• Just this December, we began the Explore Veg Mentor Program, which will connect mentees looking to make a veg change in their life with mentors excited about helping them make this transition and connect with the Twin Cities plant-based community
• We’ve got a number of events planned for a strong start in 2019 with a variety of ways to get plugged in––stay updated on our blog and events page

We are so grateful for the record number of new donors this year as well as our past and current donors. We are deeply grateful to co-founder Matt Mackall for his exceptional year-end matching gift, which will create a lasting legacy for the animals.

Finally, we extend a huge thank you to all who shared their stories, volunteered, and donated in 2018. You make this work for the animals possible and we can’t wait to see what we accomplish together in 2019.