VC started as Vegan Coalition, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2002. The organization’s original goals were to: 1) promote veganism and 2) support other charities who help animals. Some of VC’s efforts to promote the vegan diet included:
- Supporting a fabulous annual Thanksgiving gathering, open to the public, where only vegan food is served (this continues every year)
- Organizing a fun and educational beach activity called Beach Outreach, where we provided free vegan food to passers-by, and passed out educational material
- Supporting Vegan Outreach. Vegan Outreach is a grass-roots group that makes and passes out the pamphlet ‘Why Vegan’ on college campuses.
VC has added a new goal to its mission, which is to rescue animals. Over the last 10 years, VC has taken in and found homes for hundreds of animals, mostly cats and dogs. Because the process of finding animals, getting them all the necessary veterinary care, working with behavioral issues, and finally finding them the perfect forever home is so time-consuming, most of our charges are with us for an average of 8 months. Our goal is to make sure no animals come back as a result of health issues or having been placed in the wrong home. Please read about each of our animals in the ‘Adoptable Animals’ section.
VC also does some fund-raising activities such as selling goods from Knitters for Critters at Animal Charity Bazaar twice each year, and soliciting donations via the blog and other traditional means.