Whew, y’all… We did it! ChattaVegan has made it through our busiest year yet, and we couldn’t have done it without all of our volunteers, donors, and partners that came together to accomplish extraordinary things. As we head into 2020, we want to highlight not only the milestones of the last year but some of the favorite memories of ChattaVegans. And if you’d like to see us top previous years, please help us out by donating to our 2020 fundraiser.
Chattavegan Fest
Holy cow! ChattaVegans came out in full force for Chattanooga’s first ever vegan festival. Despite the rainy weather, an estimated 1,500 people flocked to Coolidge Park to patron and learn from nearly 40 vendors and organizations. We learned a lot from our first year, and we’ve added additional leaders to our team to make ChattaVegan Fest 2020 even more unforgettable!
“We attended the 2019 ChattaVeganFest literally 2 days after moving to Chattanooga. We told our friends in the Bay Area that it was like a giant vegan welcome party. We loved meeting and talking with Kacy. It was also good to chat with some local doctors who understand that what we eat can have a huge impact on our health. We can’t wait to take part in other ChattaVegan events and service opportunities!”
MLK DAY OF SERVICE
At our core, ChattaVegan is a service-based organization. We’ve made it an annual tradition to sign up for the City of Chattanooga’s MLK Day of Service, and in 2019 our crew cleaned up bags upon bags of litter and re-mulched a playground at the Carver YFD Center, the home of our very first community potluck. If you’d like to be a MLK DOS 2020 volunteer, sign up with ChattaVegan here or as an individual here.
Gratefull Chattanooga
Britt Coward, ChattaVegan Board Member and a face behind the amazing Plan V, prepared food literally all night to contribute to Causeway’s annual Gratefull event. We had such a great time that we’ve committed to being present every year going forward on the Monday preceding Thanksgiving. Join us!
Chattanooga pride
Not only did a lovely team of ChattaVegans march in Pride this year, but we also helped host our first LGBTQIA+ vegan potluck at The Palace Theater while donating proceeds from the event to our friends at Nooga Diversity Center.
PLanted in Chattanooga
We partnered with the Hart Gallery for a fundraiser in which Kate Veltkamp of The Friendly Feast prepared an astonishing five course vegan meal. Guests walked away enamored with Kate’s dishes, and we were able to secure funding to assist with ChattaVegan Fest and Gratefull.
photograph by Scott Veltkamp
PArtnership with Green Steps
One of our favorite partner events this year was a cleanup / potluck with the dedicated folks at Green Steps. We ate like vegan royalty, and we took truckloads of trash away from the shoreline of the Tennessee River.
Pre 2019 Memories
Thank you to everyone that shared a few of their favorite memories with us that occurred in our first years. We can’t wait to connect more folks and put more good into Chattanooga in the years ahead!
“ChattaVegan has literally been a path to a new life for me, and I’ve never been happier.
The August 2017 potluck was the beginning, the Orchard Knob youth center was beautiful, and ChattaVegan Fest was jaw-dropping.”
“That potluck circa Summer 2017... met lots of lovely people that day ❤️❤️❤️ I feel like we need commemorative t-shirts!”
“My first potluck was December 2017, which was during the 8 month period that I was living out of town. It was a reminder that I desperately needed to come back home.”
“I haven’t been a member for very long; as such, my experiences have been limited to the ChataVegan Fest which I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m looking forward to future events - hopefully those that won’t collide with my schedule - and meeting some folks on here in person. I was a little shy at the fest but I’ll get there.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting my future best friend at a potluck. Vegans to me are the most human people that I know. They are always compassionate and caring. All my limited interactions with local Chattanooga vegans have been special. I just want to give them all a big group hug every time I see them because I wish the whole world were like them.”