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Outstanding Activist!
Valerie
Belt has dedicated her life to educating others. While teaching math in
Kuwait, Singapore and Bolivia, a vegan colleague passed along an article
about the McLibel case. That article moved her to become a vegetarian.
After returning to the United States in 2003, Valerie took the next step
and went vegan. In August 2003, she attended the an animal rights conference
in Los Angeles. In that same month she found the time to visit Farm Sanctuary's
California Shelter. While there, she found the inspiration that she needed
to begin speaking out for the billions of voiceless farm animals who suffer
every day.
After meeting the founding members of a local vegetarian group, Southern California Vegetarians, at Farm Sanctuary's Walk for Farm Animals, Valerie became even more determined to help. Valerie felt that she was a perfect fit for an organization geared towards educating the public about the benefits of a plant-based diet on the environment, human health, treatment of animals and world hunger. Valerie became a member and began participating in their bi-monthly vegetarian outreach activities. Using resources from a variety of animal protection organizations, including Farm Sanctuary, Valerie has helped craft an effective and educational outreach display that includes videos on projection screens and an information table overflowing with literature about vegetarianism/veganism and animal cruelty.
Valerie
has helped with VivaUSA's Whole Foods duck campaign, assisted with the
LA premiere of Peaceable Kingdom and campaigned to help get SB
1520 to ban foie gras passed through the California legislature.
Lately,
Valerie has organized demonstrations to remove crated veal and foie gras
from a world famous restaurant in Beverly Hills. Almost every week, Valerie
and other volunteers become a voice for animal suffering by protesting
in front of this restaurant. Valerie is also currently working on her
Humane Education Certificate through the International Institute for Humane
Education. The two-year program will end with her receiving her certificate
in December 2005. Valerie states that her ultimate goal is "to be
a humane educator working towards the creation of a more compassionate
world for all beings." We are happy to report that Valerie is well
on her way. This
past October, she had the opportunity to go into classrooms to present
information about vegetarianism/veganism as well as on leather, wool and
fur.
Thank
you for dedicating your life to informing others about the inhumane treatment
of animals and showing them that there are alternatives to cruelty.
Together, we ARE making a difference. If you would like to find out more about volunteering your time to educate others about factory farming and vegetarianism, please contact us at activist@farmsanctuary.org, or call 607-583-2225 ext. 229. Click here to find out what YOU can do to help!