CRVN Member Corner June 2020

CRVN Member Corner | June 2020
Michelle Lee
Longtime member
Photo: Michelle and her two children

How long have you been vegan? Could you share a little with us about your vegan journey, for example, any highlights and/or what prompted you to go vegan?
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I’ve been vegan about 11 years now. I became a vegetarian when I was in high school, because of pamphlets I found sorting through files in my school’s environment club. For a long time I hesitated to become vegan even though once I learned about eggs and dairy I knew it was the logical next step. I think the hardest part is really the social aspect, where there’s a period of time when you haven’t managed to tell everyone you are vegan and then it’s awkward that they made you a special dairy cheesy vegetarian lasagna. I was definitely encouraged by meeting other vegans in my daily life – just knowing they were around, without even talking about it, helped me make the decision. So I think that’s cool because we don’t always have time to be leafleting and organizing, but just being the vegan person in someone’s peripheral vision can keep them aware that this is an option!
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You’ve been extremely active with CRVN (AVN) in many different roles. What inspires you to volunteer? What role or activity that you’ve been involved in was your favorite?
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Of all the horrors in this world, cruelty to animals is something that we can have such a direct and unambiguous impact on as individuals in our own daily lives. So I like to spread that message. Also, I like to volunteer because it’s great to spend time with the rest of the vegan community! CRVN people are good people! And also I have two little kids, and I want to make sure they don’t see veganism as a burden – we should have halloween and ice cream in the summer and gingerbread houses and everything the other kids are having (to be honest it’s an excuse for me to eat vegan treats, too.) I’ve really enjoyed putting together the Halloween party and the cookie swap, because those are things we miss out on sometimes. I think my favorite is VegFest, just because it’s such a big team effort and the day itself is so much fun. As a volunteer I get the enjoyment of being a part of it without the stress of being in charge!
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Outside CRVN and #CapRegionVegan bubble, you’re doing wonderful work as an attorney. How do you feel that the work that you do fits into your vegan lifestyle?
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I’m an immigration attorney at the Legal Project. We offer free legal services to people who can’t afford an attorney, mainly in domestic violence, immigration, and foreclosure defense, but we have volunteers and clinics to give advice and help on many other issues. Anyone who needs legal help should definitely get in touch – 518-435-1770 – because we are working remotely but we are still open and meeting clients by phone and zoom call. It’s not directly related, but we represent people on the disadvantaged side of a power imbalance, just as veganism is about protecting the rights of the vulnerable.
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