Hello dear friends & family!

I'm kicking off this fundraiser in honor of Earth Month and my 10-year vegan anniversary (for which, I recently penned a retrospective). I'm a big believer in finding intentional ways to pay tribute to milestones, and my vegan journey has been a pivotal part of my adult life. This is a great month to learn, volunteer, and/or give financial support in support of this earth we share.

For this fundraiser, I'm raising funds to symbolically adopt an (ADORABLE) cow named Cinnamon for the rest of her life. The funds will support the operations of her now-home, Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, an hour outside Austin. The sanctuary is the first-ever documented beef cattle ranch in the world to transition into a sanctuary, and currently cares for roughly 120 residents (cows, pigs, chickens, goats, rabbits, sheep, etc.). (Here's a recent documentary about them!)

To get to my goal, I'm humbly requesting $20 donations (or whatever you can / care to give), and I will be matching all funds 50 cents to the dollar until the goal. As an additional token of appreciation, I will be making a "Cinnamon Fan Club" / thank-you card which you can opt into here :)

Cinnamon is a 17-year-old purebred Brahman show cow from Brookshire, Texas, where she was bred for showing as a hobby. However, when a cyst was discovered on her ovary, she was deemed no longer desirable / "of use" to the breeding facility, and thus, scheduled for slaughter. A reporter caught wind and aired a local news story, which led to Rowdy Girl Sanctuary being contacted and swooping in the very weekend she was set to be slaughtered. Rowdy Girl describes Cinnamon as the "epitome of an old soul, and her emotions are both seen and felt."

While I'm a big advocate for animal welfare, I originally became vegan in 2016 after watching a documentary that enlightened me to the environmental toll of big agri-business. I had recently moved to Austin and was already immersing myself in sustainability and the "Zero Waste" movement. If you'd like to learn more about my journey with veganism, my evolving viewpoints, and its impact on my life, I welcome you to read my 10-Year Retrospective.

Your support of me and Rowdy Girl's incredible mission means the world to me!

Happy Earth Month <3