By Sarah Best.
Author and campaigner John Robbins has motivated more people to go vegetarian or vegan than perhaps anyone else alive today. Thanks to his books (including Diet For A New America and The Food Revolution), millions have been encouraged to make kinder and more sustainable choices. John is the founder of EarthSave International and his son, Ocean, founded the organization Youth for Environmental Sanity.
Sadly, John and his wife Deo have recently been victims of a great injustice. Last month, they learned that they had lost their entire life savings as a result of the Bernard Madoff investment fraud, with very little chance they will recover any of it. Since the family was living off these savings, it has put them into a sudden and severe financial crisis.
To economize, they immediately rented out every extra room in their house and every spare space on their property. Still, it is not clear whether they will be able to keep up the mortgage payments on the home they share with Ocean, his wife Michelle, and their two special needs grandchildren. Both Michelle and Deo have taken on part time jobs, and Deo has also taken over the formerly paid-for day care for the children. John is writing a new book, but it could be many months before any income may come from that effort.
Last week, the US website Vegsource leapt into action and coordinated a campaign to raise funds for the family. They are accepting donations by cheque, which is great for the many in the US who want to do their bit to help. So if you are in the US, please hop on over to the Vegsource website and give whatever you can afford.
But it's not an ideal way to send funds from the UK, since the fees US banks charge to clear a foreign cheque are so high that they would wipe out smaller donations entirely.
That’s where we come in.
We are offering a credit card donation facility that you can use to efficiently get your money to this family no matter where in the world you live. We are also able to accept donations by cheque from those in the UK. Since The Fresh Network operates in both the UK and the US, we can process cheque donations in the UK and send the money on to the Robbins family in dollars.
It goes without saying that we won't be charging any fees for doing this. So this means that whether you donate £10, £100 or £1,000, 100% of your donation will reach the family. We have communicated with John about this, and we have arranged that we will be sending all the money we raise direct to him.
We are also offering a special gift to everyone who donates £10 or more through us. Do this and you can pick any Get Fresh! e-magazine from our back catalogue of over 50 brilliant issues and we'll send it to you free of charge. Even if you live in the US you can donate through us and get your free magazine as long as you pay by credit card.
There are three ways to donate via us:
- On our website
- By calling us on +44 (0)845 833 7017
- By cheque
If you are sending a cheque, please make it payable to The Fresh Network Ltd and mail it to us at: The Fresh Network, Unit 4, Aylsham Business Estate, Aylsham, Norfolk NR11 6SZ. Please put the cheque in a second envelope that reads "John Robbins appeal" and underneath this write your name and email address, and the issue number of the e-magazine you would like to receive.
Whether you choose to donate online, by post or by phone, you will receive your free magazine as soon as your payment has been processed, and we will also send you a receipt acknowledging your donation.
If you have any questions, just give us a ring on +44 (0)845 833 7017.
You can read more about John’s life and work in our recent interview with him.
We hope you will give whatever you can afford. Together let’s show this extraordinary family our appreciation for all they have done, and carry them through this crisis so that they can continue focusing their energies on their pioneering work.
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