Kassy Ortega: Spring 2014

VO Delmarva Outreach Coordinator, Kassy Ortega, has been to 49 different schools this semester, getting Vegan Outreach booklets into the hands of over 31,000 students!

Since the spring of 2012, Kassy has reached more than 104,000 people!

Reem Lajin took this pic of Kassy at the University of Virginia, where, along with first-time leafleter Amy Nickel, they reached 2,250 students on 2/17/14.

“I’m never eating chicken again!”

Kassy was joined by Reem Lajin at Virginia Commonwealth University on 2/4/14, and together they handed out 2,400 Compassionate Choices:

“As usual on this campus, we heard from a number of vegans and vegetarians – including a vegan who said she loved us so much for leafleting! Such a great feeling.

“Reem is so positively passionate about animal rights, I think it really resonates with students. All her conversations seemed to go over pretty well! It was chillier than Reem expected it to be, but she pulled through ’til the very end.

“I offered a booklet to a faculty member, and she replied: ‘Oh, you already offered me one. I sat inside and read it – what we are doing is horrible! I’m never eating chicken again!’ Slightly caught off guard by her amazing reply, I followed after her and offered her a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating. She was very appreciative. I introduced myself and gave her my info in case she’s itching for someone to speak to her students, or another professor wants a speaker.”

On 2/7/14, Kassy teamed with Chris Dietrich, Kim Moffatt, Cristina Myers, and Lauren Hart, setting a new one-day record at Bowie State University:

“Amazing crew! These folks are so much fun to leaflet with. I also just want to put it on record that Chris Dietrich is an insanely talented leafleter. No one gets by that guy!

“Kim had a very productive conversation with Mike, a student who isn’t vegetarian, but his dad has been vegetarian for 30 years. Hopefully Kim gave him that extra push to choose compassionately. She also gave him a Guide.

“I heard from a new vegetarian! She was very appreciative of the Guide and Tofurky coupons that I gave her.

After talking with Lauren, this BSU student is interested in going veg.

“I chatted briefly with another student who asked me what he can eat instead of chicken or beef. I told him about the wonderful world of cruelty-free meat alternatives that can be found at any grocery store! He told me he would look for them and try them. He seemed especially interested in searching for Gardein chick’n tenders. Yum.

“Great day for animals!”

To help ensure more great days for animals, Kassy is raising funds for VO’s Adopt a College program by challenging herself to run her first Tough Mudder on June 14!

You can show your support by visiting her Team Vegan page here.