The New England Federation of Humane Societies connects animal welfare professionals so that they can educate, collaborate, and network with each other. As part of their efforts, they hold an annual training conference. The conference covers basic knowledge for those just starting out, advanced lectures for those who are specialized, and progressive discussions to lead shelters into the future.
This years conference was held at the Hartford Marriott Downtown in beautiful Hartford, Connecticut. Food for Thought’s East Coast Coordinator, Tami Andrew, represented Animal Place with a table at the conference. She met a number of wonderful representatives from organizations in the northeast US.
Though NEFHS tabling was a bit different from most conferences–the booths were not in a designated exhibition ballroom but instead in the lobby outside of the meeting rooms–it was still an overwhelmingly positive experience. Since people were always milling about the lobby for snacks, food, and coffee, there was time for casual conversation with guests, as well as fellow exhibitors.
Sharing Food For Thought’s mission to help nonprofit organizations extend their compassion to all animals by adopting a vegan or vegetarian menu policy was met with a lot of enthusiasm from the guests at NEFHS. There was a high number of people who already had an informal policy in place at their organization and were interested in making it official. Many other guests were in full support of FFT’s mission and interested in resources to help persuade their board, as well as grant opportunities to prove how successful vegan events are.
The NEFHS conference was a great example of our mission since it was a vegetarian event with lots of vegan options. The food ranged from sushi to sliders and included a smoothie station and hot apple cider! It was a lovely experience filled with sweet treats and great meets and we look forward to next year already!
