hi everyone,

i was watching the news last night, which i don't do very often anymore, and found myself getting more and more stressed about the "economic crisis" that every news story was about. OHSU short 35 million dollars, WAMU laying off 85 percent of its seattle employees, the DOW dropping 500 points again... scary stuff.


its been a tough year for everyone who owns a business. we have all seen our sales diminish, and we've cut costs, and done what we can to hang in there.


so i wanted to ask all of you, in a way that doesn't sound like begging, because i'm not - to really think about where you spend your money this holiday season, and into the beginning of next year.


please remember that small businesses really need your support, and that we offer a lot to our communities. the money you spend in my bakery, or at herbivore, food fight and scapegoat (and any other vegan owned business) supports the vegans who work in our shops (i have 9 vegan employees!), and we put our money back into vegan causes. supporting our businesses also means that we can continue to have time and space to raise money for animal rights causes, host events, and keep up the other work that we do for the animals.


so i guess what i'm saying is, come buy that cookbook for your sister at Herbivore instead of powells. get a gift certificate at Scapegoat. get your veggies for your holiday meals at Food Fight, and stop in a get a coffee at Sweetpea and say hi. because we do appreciate you and your business and what you do for us and for the animals. being vegan IS ACTIVISM and does make a difference.


and i especially want to say thanks to all of our regular customers at the bakery, who come in and smile at us every day. i would hug you personally everyday, but i know you'd get tired of it.

xo
lisa


p.s.
feel free to repost this!