Archive | August, 2011

Girl Who Is Changing the World: Clara Polito

25 Aug

(contact Clara for a Clara’s Cakes t-shirt! $15)

This week’s “Girl Who Is Changing the World” is Clara Polito.  To most of us, owning and operating a vegan baking company (Clara’s Cakes), being a full-time student, participating regularly in animal activism, running a music/animal-rights/fashion blog (Clara in Veganland), and still having time to walk the dog might seem daunting- but it’s no problem for 14-year-old superstar Clara.

Clara, whose vegan delicacies have been photographed and raved about by LA’s most notorious vegan blogger, QuarryGirl, started her company a year and a half ago, shortly after going vegan at age 12.  Since then, she has provided her incredible desserts for concerts, web series launch parties, charity bake sales, and farm animal sanctuary holiday celebrations, and has been featured in articles & interviews for Girls Life Magazine, The Elephant Journal, Change.org, Peta2, and Huggerfood.  Most recently, her phenomenally addictive ‘gobs’ have been added to the weekly home delivery service run by one of Los Angeles’ most renowned gourmet vegan restaurants, Madeleine Bistro. Not bad for a young lady who has yet to commence high school!

“Well, when you bite into a delicious, fluffy, moist cupcake with some crème filling inside you get this moment of joy. Especially when you realize it’s completely animal product-free. So if most vegan food tastes that yummy then why not go vegan?”

- from Clara’s interview with The Elephant Journal

Clara truly believes in the power of decadent vegan food to change hearts, influence opinions, and ultimately relieve some animal suffering, but her world-saving doesn’t stop in the kitchen.  She regularly participates in protests against animal cruelty (I’ve proudly marched alongside her in Beverly Hills’ annual Black Friday fur protest), attends & promotes animal-rights-related film premieres (for movies like Bold Native and Skin Trade), and spreads the vegan truth in her blog.

Clara Rocks!Suffice to say- this girl isn’t messing around.  She doesn’t stop at rescuing animals, either- she also wants to empower women.  She recently published an extremely well written piece about rampant sexism in television commercials.  Her message to her female peers:

“I guess my point is to tell girls that they don’t have to have a family, or make a perfect dinner or wear a bikini and wiggle on a car (unless you want to later on!). You don’t have to work for the man. You do what makes you feel empowered and happy.”

I personally cannot wait to see what else Clara has in store for the world.  At 14, Clara already has more poise, confidence, ambition, and eloquence than many people ten years her senior.  Though she is sure to be busy after starting high school in the coming weeks, hit her up with an order if you’ve got a vegan sweet tooth that needs satisfying!

(photo by Schwartz Studios)

Learn more about Clara’s Cakes.

Like Clara’s Cakes on Facebook.

Read Clara in Veganland.

Follow Clara on Twitter.

Contact Clara to place bakery orders or ask questions! Clara@claracakes.com

~ Jessica

  Follow Jessica on Twitter: @jlschluet

**If you know a super rad girl that you would like to nominate for our ‘Girls Who Are Changing the World’ feature, send them to us at: loveinfinitelyproject@gmail.com

The Details

25 Aug

The question I get most often is, what IS the Love Infinitely Project?


Well, it’s a lot of things.

The original idea was to have it be a non-profit, supported by a business.  But it has become so much more.  It is becoming a collaborative of compassionate people who are creating change in the world by giving of themselves.  Like I say, using their natural talents.

So, I’m going to try and break it down for you:

The Non-Profit

The Love Infinitely Project will be a foundation that will help fund volunteerism on a global scale in several different ways.  The main purpose is to send out individuals, either alone or in a group, to do volunteer work.  They get to choose where they go and what they will be doing.  Of course, if they have a desire to help and are unsure about where to go or what to do, we will be able to help.  The foundation will work like a scholarship where people will apply and interview.  Once chosen, we will pay for the majority of their trip and help organize the details such as accommodations and meals.  There’s a lot more to this, but we’ll leave it at that for now.

Another purpose of the non-profit will be to have the Emergency Response Fund & Team.  Ready to send a group of people at the drop of hat in case of disaster.  Hurricanes, oil spills, earthquakes, etc.,  We will be there to clean up and help where needed.

Other fun parts of the non-profit include an annual trip of the entire LIP Team and a large group of volunteers who will go tackle a BIG project.  The first one is already in the works.  Laos, 2012!  There are elephants involved…  Come with us!  There will also be an annual Arts Camp Tour where people will nominate 3 schools in different parts of the world.  We will take a team of artists (of all types) and hold a week long arts camp in each school.  The tour will be different every time, taking a unique arts experience to schools that otherwise would have never gotten the opportunity.

Of course there will be fundraisers, a yearly Gala honoring the year’s volunteers, concerts and more fun events that will raise awareness and raise funds.

The Company

The Love Infinitely Shop has been up and running since April 1st and is slowly growing into it’s own entity.  My dream is to have artists and designers from all over, contribute their own unique merchandise with a message to the shop.  The shop will be moving from Etsy to the official Love Infinitely website in the near future.  Of course, there will be a special section of  Love Infinitely merchandise where 100% of the proceeds will go to the non-profit.  The purpose of the business is to help fund/run the organization so that the money raised for the non-profit will go directly to sending people out.  I know that this idea will grow and expand to become much more than just a shop.

The Collaborative

This is it, right here.  The blog will be a place where people can share their lives, passions and ideas.  Volunteers will be able to share their pictures and stories, friends can contribute ideas on how to get active in their communities (and beyond), showcase causes to get involved with, a place we can all share what our journey is like on the path to changing the world, we can support each other, celebrate victories and most importantly, where everyone can inspire others to go out and do the same.  We will inevitably inspire each other.

Come get involved.

Write to us about causes you are passionate about, share your stories, send in your videos, inspirational artwork, nominate a ‘Girl Who Is Changing the World’…

Be a part of the Love Infinitely Project:

loveinfinitelyproject@gmail.com

We're super fun to be around. For realz.

♥∞

~B

I like taking pictures.  Follow B on Twitter:  @iamsunshine78

Going Veg

21 Aug

I took the leap. I’m a vegetarian (in training).

Here’s the back story: Two years ago I made the decision to stop eating red meat. For as long as I can remember, I dreaded steak night, ground beef didn’t appeal to me, either did anything made with ground beef. For years, I went along eating those meals, but never enjoying the food I was putting into my body. I grew up being told that what my parents put on the table for dinner I had to eat. They raised me to be grateful for the food I have, which I am, but I eventually realized that I could choose what I wanted to eat.

Fast forwarding a couple of years: I have a completely new circle of friends, many of which are vegetarians or vegans. They show their compassion for animals and love for life in everything they do. I hear my new circle new speak about and support remarkable causes which made me extremely interested in their veg lives. I took it upon myself to research these causes, read articles about vegetarian/veganism, and watch documentaries related to the food industry. My eyes and my mind were wide open, and for the first time I truly asked myself, “What am I eating?”

Jessica was the first person I told about my decision to become a vegetarian. I wrote her a long, unorganized email asking for every bit of advice she could provide. What she doesn’t know is how nervous I was to send the email.  Now, Jess and I met through Brenda and Love Infinitely, we spoke occasionally on twitter and in mass email messages, and anything I knew about her I learned through her blog. Basically, I was compelled to tell this girl I barely knew that I decided to go veg and I wanted her help. She replied with the biggest congratulations ever! I was now stoked about my decision. Thanks to Jess and Steph, going veg was easier than I ever expected.

What hasn’t been easy is telling people outside of my veg circle that I no longer eat meat. People are confused about my decision and often I hear, “You ate meat your entire life…” It’s not about what I did, but how I am choosing to shape my future. I didn’t realize changing my diet would be the easy part. Informing others of my decision is the most trying part of my veg journey, but I’m ready world and I won’t give up.

Blessed by the universe, as I began to write the previous paragraph Liz’s daughter, Ivy tweeted a personal quote that applies to my current situation.

Thank you Ivy for your inspiring words, Jessica and Stephanie for your continued advice, and my new, amazing circle of friends for all the love you give. I’m grateful for each and every one of you.

xxNoelle

Noelle in NYC  Follow Noelle on Twitter: @NoelleBobo

Girl Who is Changing the World: Ashley Owen Hill

18 Aug

“It’s so important that the people who care about the animals of the world ban together to save them.   I’ve already started.  Please join me.”

~ Ashley Owen Hill

This week’s ‘Girl Who Is Changing the World’ is Ashley Owen Hill, founder of Lucky Dog Rescue and co-founder of the Facebook app, Pet Pardons. She also writes an honestly inspiring blog about her rescue. Through her work, various achievements and overall passion, she is an inspiration to me and many others in the animal rescue community.

I found out who Ashley was about two months ago when she wrote a post on her blog titled, “The Truth about Fostering”. Aside from it being an awesome and inspiring post, it also changed the way many people think about fostering and encouraged many of them to become foster parents. Fostering is a HUGE step towards saving the lives of animals, so the people she encouraged to foster through her post means many lives were saved!

Ashley’s rescue animals are her entire life and even though it’s sometimes tiring, sad, draining, and demanding…the good always outweighs the bad:

“Fostering is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. It’s given me more joy, laughter, and love than I deserve. At the end, there’s always heartbreak. But never for a second does the sadness outweigh the joy. Never do the tears outweigh the laughter. And never does the pain outweigh the love. Heartbreak heals… but love is forever.”

Ashley is a great role model to many people across the world, including me, and she probably doesn’t even realize it. Reading Ashley’s blog makes me feel like I’ve known her for years, when in fact I’ve never met her personally. What I love most about Ashley is that she speaks from her heart and soul and doesn’t care what other people think. She’s not afraid to stand up for what she truly believes in, which in turn inspires others to do the same.

 “The world is changing for the better. I promise you it is. These changes are slow. They may seem trivial… insignificant, at times. But even the smallest grain of sand… is still a grain of sand. And when you pile enough of those bad boys together… you’ve got yourself a mighty-nice beach. Change is change, no matter how small the shift may be. Positivity is positivity, no matter how much negativity surrounds it. And making a difference is making a difference… it always matters to someone, somewhere.” 

Read Ashley’s Blog, Lucky Dog Rescue.

Donate to the Lucky Dog Rescue.

Like the Lucky Dog Rescue on Facebook.

Check out, Pet Pardons.

Email questions about Lucky Dog Rescue here: luckydogrescueblog@gmail.com

♥∞

Submitted by Kate Collins.

*Kate is an amazing and inspirational girl from Southern New Jersey. She attends Rutgers University, works in the healthcare industry, volunteers at the Camden County Animal Shelter, and saves dogs lives through fostering. Kate is one of the nicest, most caring, and hard working individuals you will ever meet. She found out about the Love Infinitely Project from her cousin, LIP Board Member, Noelle.

**If you know a super rad girl that you would like to nominate for our ‘Girls Who Are Changing the World’ feature, send them to us at: loveinfinitelyproject@gmail.com

← Older Entries