Volunteer of the season
Introducing Coraline Hope, a lovely office volunteer who brightens up our days. Tell us about when you decided to go vegan. I’ve been vegan since May 19, 2013. I’d been vegetarian since around the age of seven and so I was aware veganism existed but had never looked into it. One day I found myself on an actor’s Wikipedia page and it said that he had become vegan. I remember being very surprised because I always thought he had an “I don’t care about anything” kind of personality, so I looked into what he said made him vegan. It was a documentary called Forks Over Knives. I watched that and then another and another and before I knew it my whole understanding of the animal industry and veganism had changed. From then on, I knew veganism was the way forward for the animals, the planet and my health. What made you decide to get involved in volunteering? I have been volunteering for almost a year. I had wanted to get involved for a long time, but as I suffer from strong anxiety I never took the first step. I knew someone who had been volunteering for years at The Vegan Society and one day their encouragement was enough to get me to give it a shot. 28 The Vegan | Issue 3 2018
What kind of tasks do you enjoy doing around the office? I really enjoy making member packs. I find it very calming if I am having a day where my anxiety is quite high. I like that the tasks I do will vary from week to week so I’m often learning about new software and growing my skills. I enjoy organising, cleaning and subtitling videos when needed. What is your favourite thing about being vegan? My favourite thing about being vegan is the peace I feel because of it. I know that I will be vegan for the rest of my life and that I am doing what I can to help. I love the community I have discovered because of it. I met my partner through attending a particular vegan event which I never would have gone to if I hadn’t ended up on that Wikipedia page first. Veganism has helped me meet some incredible people so I will forever be thankful to it. You’re really into going to Comic-Con events – are any of your favourite actors vegan? I’ve yet to meet any vegan actors at Comic-Con but I would love it if I had the opportunity to meet Mayim Bialik. Mayim is well known for her role as Amy on The Big Bang Theory. She is vegan and has been very vocal about it over the years. She has released a vegan cookbook and made YouTube videos on veganism and so I think it’s really good for her to be in the public eye.
