Q3 2019 Report and Thank You!
In Q3 2019, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, White Coat Waste Project, and Animal Place’s Food for Thought Program each used contributions from the Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund to further their campaigns and programs. The Greg Fund also made a new grant to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, matching contributions to a Facebook fundraiser. Meanwhile, the Greg Fund continued to receive very generous contributions in Greg’s memory — and moved to new management under The Community Foundation of Frederick County, Maryland. Details below.
PCRM The Exam Room™ podcast
The Fund sponsored five new episodes of The Exam Room podcast between July and September 2019, continuing a partnership that started on Greg’s June 6 birthday.
Q3 sponsored episodes on vegan nutrition and medical news are: Healthiest 3 Days Ever, Dr. Dean Ornish Live Q&A, Why Your Gut and Brain Can’t Stop Talking to Each Other, and Plants or Meat: Which Is Really More Likely To Cause A Stroke?
The Greg Fund also sponsored a special bonus episode, A Major Victory for Animals, about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s historic decision to eliminate all chemical testing on mammals by 2035, and to immediately begin the transition to more modern and effective methods.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have been working toward this outcome for decades, and White Coat Waste Project has also been campaigning for this result in recent years. All three organizations were represented at the news conference where EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the plan.
PETA Campaign to End Racehorse Cruelty
THE PETA PODCAST Episode 87 (Sept. 25), Whistleblowers Help PETA Uncover Truth About Drugs and Horse Racing, provides a thorough update on this campaign the Greg Fund has long supported, which opposes racing and all sports involving animals, while it also works to improve conditions for horses immediately. The podcast covers PETA’s eleven years of work for racehorses, and the September 11 revelation that 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify failed an important drug test.
Meanwhile, in Jeju, South Korea, PETA investigated the country’s largest horse slaughter plant, where former racehorses are killed for meat – and on August 23, that investigation led Korean police to file cruelty charges against the plant.
White Coat Waste Project
On July 30, the AFTER Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate, to require that federal agencies enact policies allowing for the retirement of government lab animals. On August 2, ABC News 7 – DC WJLA reported that the NIH just finalized a lab animal adoption policy after pressure from White Coat Waste and the U.S. Congress — joining the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.
On August 2, at Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Florida, Gregory and 25 other squirrel monkeys transitioned to an almost-wild habitat, after they were freed last year from an FDA nicotine experiment thanks to pressure from White Coat Waste Project and Dr. Jane Goodall.
Animal Place’s Food for Thought Program
The Greg Fund sponsored a Sustainable Food Policies and Climate Crisis panel at the July 2019 Animal Rights National Conference in Washington D.C., organized by Animal Place’s Food for Thought Program in collaboration with Friends of the Earth and the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Panelists shared success stories of public institutions and private organizations transitioning to plant-based menus for environmental sustainability and to save animals, human health, and money.
Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary
In Q3 2019, the Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund made a new grant to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville, Maryland near Washington D.C. — where I volunteer weekly — to help care for cows, pigs, sheep, turkeys and other animals recently rescued from cruelty and abandonment. The Greg Fund grant matched contributions the following individuals made to the sanctuary through my Facebook birthday fundraiser: Adam Kobor, Anthony Bellotti, Barbara J King, Caryn Laurion, Catherine Vade Bon Coeur, Christine Kestner, Colleen Flanagan, Dana Meeker, David Red, Debbie Kula, Douglas Tipperman, Emily Allen, Grace Holden, Hannah Battiste, Harry Thomas, Ilona Lantos, Jacob Eliosoff, Jennifer Hoes Porter, Jim McWalters, Jim North, Justin Goodman, Kristy Wolfe, Lily Han, Lisa S Myers, Madison Sparks, Mongia Tanfous, Monique Bilezikian, Noelle Callahan, Pat Huey, Preston Huey, Rachel McCrystal, Richard J Peppin, Rob Haworth, Stephanie Jones, Steven Kehrli, Susan R. Johnson, Tara Ann Stanczyk, Tiziana Vigliocco Cockrell, and Yi Ting.
Q1-3 2019 Cumulative Donation Thank You!
The following have generously contributed to the Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund during the first three quarters of 2019:
Institutions: Amherst Foundation, Benevity Community Impact Fund, and Yount Hyde & Barbour, P.C.
Individuals: Anthony Bellotti, Alka Chandna, Jeana Curro, Jane Fisher, Nancy Hughitt, Paul & Joni Jablansky, Steven Kehrli, Keith Kemplin, Adam Kobor, Deborah Kula, Ilona Lantos, Caryn Laurion, Syd Marcus, Jim North, Diana Ok, Debbie Pedro, and Jeanne Roush.
New Fund Management – The Community Foundation of Frederick County, MD
Effective September 16, the Greg Fund is being newly managed by The Community Foundation of Frederick County, Maryland where I now live.
For individuals who choose to donate to the Greg Fund at this link, you will see that there is now no minimum donation and no donation processing fee — so all contribution dollars go to supporting the Fund’s partner programs!
For any donation in process via the original Greg Fund manager ImpactAssets – no worries — that account will remain open to receive donations through the end of calendar year 2019.
The Greg Fund will continue to support the animal rights, vegan, and wildlife conservation organizations and programs it has supported since founding on Earth Day 2016.
