Yesterday I attended my first ever Farm Sanctuary Walk for the Farm Animals. Check out my photos and impressions from the day!..
The Scene: (waiting to walk.)
Boy: Wait, is this a protest?
Girl: No. It's a Walk.
Boy: What's a Walk?
Girl: People gathering. To walk.
Boy: What kind of Walk?
Girl: A peaceful Walk.
Boy: What are we walking for?
Girl: Farm animals.
Boy: Why don't we just stand?
Girl: Walking is empowering and we will reach more people with our message.
Boy: What's the message?
(long pause)
Girl: (deep breath) We are walking for animals everywhere - especially those in horrific factory farms doomed to die a horrible death after a life left forgotten about. We are walking to voice our cause to the world and show our passion, strength and commitment towards change. We are walking to promote compassion. We are walking to remind people that the factory farming industry should not be ignored - it should be exposed. We are walking with pride in being vegan. We are walking for the animals - we are giving them a voice. We are walking because as humans we say we love animals - but really, we need to live our lives in a way that shows it."
Boy: Ahh. I see. Yay animals.
Girl: Exactly.
..my replay of an exaggerated conversation - my response to "Why we Walk"...
Veggie Gathering. My favorite type of gathering is the type where lots of people show up with a common passion spread a positive message of change to the world. The Walk for Farm Animals NYC 2010 was just that!
I arrived with my walk entourage - (hubby and friend). I was so glad that they decided to come along with me. Honestly, none of us knew what to expect since this was our first year attending. Would the Walk be loud? Would the public around us start booing at us? Cheering? Would we have fun? Would we be bored?
Well all those silly questions were answered when the day turned out to be inspiring, energizing and full of fun.
We gathered at Merchants Gate Central Park where a large crowd of folks was already hanging out in the crisp autumn air and basking in the warm glow of this sunny day. It felt awesome to be surrounded by so many people who share my intense love of animals and desire for change in the world.
We grabbed our T-shirts (so cute!) and prepped to walk.
NBA star (and former Celebrity Apprentice contestant) John Salley was the "leader" of the Walk. He sure was tall enough to spot!
John Salley:
John Salley & Gene Baur:
Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, was also there and swamped by friendly walkers wanting to say hi, say thank You and grab a photo with him. From me: Thank you Gene Baur for all you do.
Then the walk began. We started at west 59th street, walked along Central Park up to about 81st street, then walked back through the park to our starting location.
The fall leaves were beautiful and it was a truly enjoyable journey...
I was thrilled to see many random onlookers asking about our cause and asking for brochures from the friendly Farm Sanctuary volunteers.
There was a wide variety of walkers. Including groups of adults, young kids with their families, teens, college students, puppies and even a few seniors - loved that!
The birds were happy to see us..
So overall I had fun and really enjoyed the event. Congrats to Farm Sanctuary for pulling off such a seamless, classy, feel-good show for all the walkers and the public on-lookers who hopefully heard our message of compassion...
"A compassionate World begins with YOU."
Gene Baur's website
John Salley's website
Farm Sanctuary's website
Walk for Farm Animals website
A few more pics below..
Merchant's Gate Central Park Statue:
happy vegans:
Park trees:
..rounding Central Park, waving 'hi' to Donald Trump (or his hotel really):
the chicken shot..
