Every year, thousands of people across North America participate in an incredible mass display of compassion towards farmed animals — some of the most abused on the planet. Farm Sanctuary’s annual Walk for Farm Animals campaign is a hugely successful national fundraiser to support the organization, which works to rescue and rehabilitate mistreated farm animals at its three (soon to be four) farmland sanctuaries in California and New York.

Anyone who wants to participate can register online and join a “team” with which to walk in one of fourteen different cities across the U.S. and one in Canada.

Because Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp serves vegan food and values animal rights alongside other important social justice issues it trains campers to work on, it’s no surprise that a lot of campers and staff members joined the Walk at locations all over the country.

In a mini reunion, YEA Camp counselor Madeleine Lifsey joined camp director/founder Nora Kramer and former campers (now staff!) Shelby Kim and Jasmine Caruk at the Boston March. They also volunteered to gather signatures for Massachusetts’ ballot initiative for farm animals, which has since qualified to be voted on in November 2016.

A larger YEA Camp reunion took place at the New York Walk for Farm Animals, where campers Ananya Singh, Eva Schenk, Bryn Colodny, Ollie Smith, Lillian Davis-Bosch, Sarah Sciortino, Rachel Gayle, Marcela Cueto and Lori Baccari formed a team that came in third place for amount of money raised, at $1,681.
If that’s not awesome enough, they also got to meet Farm Sanctuary founder Gene Baur and talk with him about YEA Camp! They leafleted along the way, and even passed out leaflets on the subway after it was over before going out to have vegan lunch.

Ananya recounts, “It was an enjoyable experience, and it helped me learn about the great things Farm Sanctuary is doing, and to meet and educate people about it!” Ananya also won top youth fundraiser for the NYC WFFA.

YEA Campers participated in these walks on the east coast, on the west coast, and in the Midwest.

Claire Tamburello, 18-year-old former camper who this year worked a Counselor In Training at YEA Camp’s New York camp, has been a dedicated animal activist for years, as featured on our YEA Camp blog. She is a regular at Farm Sanctuary walks and raised money and awareness for animals in Grand Rapids, MI.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, former camper Marley Goldman walked in Seattle (joined by her awesome mom Gail) and won first place as the top teen fundraiser at $660! Go Marley!

I myself walked in Hartford and raised hundreds of dollars for farm animals. It was a wonderful experience!

Not only did I get to speak up in the name of animals, but I also got to walk with a group of brilliant animal activists from my own community.

My whole family walked with me, including my dog! By raising over $100, I received a special T-shirt I wore for the walk. Afterwards, we all got to hang out in the park, eat vegan snacks, and listen to a live performance.

What an amazing, heartwarming experience! The compassion shown by these YEA Campers and everyone who marched and fundraised is enormous. Thanks to their dedication and many other kind advocates and donors from across the country, Farm Sanctuary was able to raise nearly $150,000 for farm animals over the course of just a few days.

We can be certain that next fall, YEA Campers will be back on the streets of the largest cities in the country, at it again. For more information on Farm Sanctuary’s life-saving work, visit farmsanctuary.org and check out walkforfarmanimals.org to learn how you can sign up to walk next year!

The youth activists mentioned in this article all nurtured and developed their activist passions, skills, and community at Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, a life-changing summer camp for world-changing teens. If you know of any tween/teen, aged 12-17, who has a passion in activism, whether it be for animal rights, feminism, LGBTQ, racial justice, environmentalism, or any other topic, check out yeacamp.org to find out how to sign up for this week-long camp, held this summer in California, New York and Massachusetts. New York’s session will be a special session just for animal advocates held at the similarly amazing Woodstock Farm Sanctuary! Register by Valentine’s Day 2016 to earn an early-bird discount of $150!

About the author: Leah is a 17-year-old, two-time Youth Empowered Action Camp alum and co-editor of the YEA Blog. She has a special interest in animal rights and has visited Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York, where she made friends with cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys and goats!

The post Teen Activists Across the Country Walk to Save Animals appeared first on YEA Camp.

All over the country, YEA Campers are doing amazing things. Debunking the stereotype of the apathetic teenager, these young leaders are informed, committed, and taking action to making our world a better place.

When 16-year-old Katy Foley, who attended our Oregon camp this past summer, let us know that she and her Youth Ending Slavery (YES) chapter led a huge crowd of people for a Walk to End Slavery, we asked her to tell us about it, and we’re thrilled to share her story here below. Way to go, Katy!

By Katy Foley

Stereotypically, Portland, Oregon, is known for hipsters, bikers, coffee, and all-around weirdness. However, on one Saturday afternoon, my club members and I took to the city streets, adding another word to this list: activism. With strength in numbers, I helped lead a vocal group, 100 strong, to march in a walk to end modern-day slavery.  The event was convened by Youth Ending Slavery (YES), a student-led organization that I am so honored to work with.

Many people don’t realize that slavery still exists and is a far too prevalent injustice in our world today. This is an atrocity not to be misconstrued as solely an issue of the past or a crime of developing countries. 

There are different forms of slavery today, from workers in the coffee, chocolate, or diamond industries, to young people who are trafficked in the sex trade — something that has become a shocking problem in my area.

Oregon is a state deeply plagued with this injustice. Specifically, Portland is often cited as a city with one of the highest rates of juvenile sex trafficking in the country. This opportunistic crime in the Portland metropolitan area is due to a confluence of issues— this includes Portland’s growing juvenile homeless population, two major highway routes, an international airport, and a high concentration of strip clubs (which is not to say that all strip clubs practice this form of illegal exploitation, but some have been linked to trafficking fronts).

From improving legal and legislative approaches in the decriminalization of trafficking victims (those who have been criminalized and erroneously identified as prostitutes) to a more aggressive strategy that includes prosecuting traffickers, Oregonians have taken action against this injustice in recent years. Citizens, students, and law enforcement are also working to raise awareness and education among both youth and adults by starting organizations like Youth Ending Slavery. I was inspired by efforts like these against a crime that exploits far too many, which inspired me to join YES and to become its outreach director.

YES is an entirely youth-led nonprofit organization whose mission is to combat modern-day slavery by raising awareness, and, just like YEA Camp, aims to empower and motivate youth to be advocates for change. YES does this through educational speaking engagements, facilitating YES chapters at local high schools, hosting fundraising events for partnered anti-trafficking organizations, and organizing awareness campaigns, such as the Walk to End Slavery.

Championing  the streets, YES and all who walked beside us drew attention of those coffee- drinking, long-bearded Portlanders, voicing their intolerance for the injustice in the words, “Slavery ends with you and me / youth ending slavery!” and demanding “People over profit!”

The walk showcased the importance of awareness, empathy and community in the fight for social change. YES urged its supporters to acknowledge that activism can be a one-person effort, but the contribution of the masses affects greater change– and who better to make this change than young people?

When I had the chance to speak in front of the crowd, I said, “We believe that educating youth about the existence of slavery is crucial because the rising generation has the opportunity and responsibility to create a world in which unjust practices in the name of profit are not tolerated.”

To get involved with YES or learn more about its work,  visit YouthEndingSlavery.org.

Go Katy! 

If you are or someone you know is a teen who is passionate about social justice like Katy is, join us at YEA Camp this summer! You’ll get to be part of an amazing community filled with inspiring people like Katy, find your voice on an issue that’s important to you, and  take your change-making to the next level. And don’t wait. Our early bird discount ends February 1. Find out more or register for YEA Camp here. 

And follow this blog to read more inspiring stories like this from teens doing amazing things to make our world a better place.

The post Inspired Teens Lead Walk to End Slavery appeared first on YEA Camp.