On April 21, SCCAA participated in Cupertino Earth Day for the second time. The focus this year was to promote awareness of the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act which would end the use of chimpanzees and other great apes in invasive research in the U.S. We asked attendees to write to Senator Barbara Boxer to request her support on this bill. We also handed out brochures to inform the public of other ways they can help to end animal suffering and abuse while having a positive environmental impact.

The majority of SCCAA booth visitors were supportive and immediately wanted to sign postcards in support of the great ape protection bill. Many were surprised to learn that Senator Boxer was on the fence with her support for the bill. A few people were not aware that chimpanzees are used for research in the U.S. One woman exclaimed, "They do that? In this country?" Several visitors told us they would read up on the bill later and then write to Senator Boxer.

Earth Day attendees filled out a total of 88 postcards and wrote four letters in support of great ape protections. An additional 34 people took blank postcards to fill out and mail later. One SCCAA volunteer visited the other booths at the Earth Day event and got many event volunteers to fill out postcards. Cupertino Earth Day proved to be a successful event for raising awareness and support for great apes.

Eight SCCAA volunteers converged at San Jose State University on April 4 for Meatout 2012. Meatout is an annual event in which activists encourage the public to cut back on the meat in their diets or even give up meat altogether. Meatout often involves giving out free vegan food, and that's what we did—we cooked and gave away 200 vegan veggie burgers at a barbeque pit on campus. We also gave out 500 samples of Primal Strips vegan jerky. Along with the food, we handed out more than 400 Vegan Outreach pamphlets and many other compassion-oriented flyers.

The mouth-watering aroma of cooking veggie burgers drew crowds of students to the SCCAA event. Up to 20 students waited in line to try the veggie burgers. While they waited, they perused our vegan literature and chatted with each other and us about vegan and vegetarian diets, nutrition, animal farming, and reducing the suffering of animals.

The festive picnic atmosphere helped students feel comfortable exploring new food choices. Many students commented that they enjoyed their delicious plant-based burgers and were considering cutting back on the amount of meat they eat.

SCCAA kicked off its 2012 Presentation Series with "Be Pet Prepared," a talk on how to be ready to help your companion animals in a disaster. The presenter was Lisa Towell, a local disaster responder for animals. Attendees received checklists to help them stock their companion animal emergency kits. They also saw demonstrations of animal handling techniques useful for disaster situations. For more information on preparing for disasters if you have companion animals, visit the Humane Society Silicon Valley website.

Stay tuned for additional presentations later in 2012. SCCAA is planning movie screenings and guest speakers on a variety of animal-related topics.

The pay-per-view program is an extremely effective form of outreach in which people get paid $1 to watch a 4-minute video on factory farming. After watching the video, we answer the viewers' questions and encourage them to reduce their consumption of animal products or, better yet, start on a path toward a vegan diet.

SCCAA members have been volunteering at locations throughout the bay area including San Jose State University, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and several community colleges. At every event, the students have been extremely receptive to the message and most have pledged to boycott the cruelty they’ve seen.

It’s hard to imagine a form of outreach more effective than pay-per-view. Please contact us if you would like to participate in future events. For more information on pay-per-view, please visit FARM's website.

SCCAA's holiday vegan bake sale was a huge success, raising over $1000 for SCCAA and the Food Empowerment Project. Children had fun decorating their own cookies at the gingerbread animal decoration station, and visitors young and old enjoyed the many tasty treats prepared by our fabulous baking volunteers.

All the recipes used in the bake sale are available for free in this cookbook. Bake sale customers couldn't wait to recreate these delicious vegan treats at home.

SCCAA continued its annual tradition of organizing Fur Free Friday events at San Jose's Santana Row and at the Stanford Shopping Center. Fur Free Friday is a worldwide event that takes place on the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. It's a great opportunity to educate people about the cruelty inherent in producing clothing and accessories from animal fur. SCCAA volunteers gave away more than 1500 leaflets explaining the how animals suffer and die for fashion. Over two dozen volunteers protested at Santana Row and about a dozen people came to Neiman Marcus at Stanford.

Holiday shoppers were horrifed to learn about the abusive practices of the fur industry. One woman told us, "I had no idea that Neiman Marcus sold fur!" She then went into the store to ask the manager to stop selling products containing fur. Another shopper said, "I can't believe that animals are actually skinned alive!" One young girl carefully read our signs and then asked her mother, "Do we have any fur at home?" It was great to see how she transformed her concern for the plight of the animals into immediate action.