The fundraiser was held at the Astor Theatre in Mt Lawley, amongst the chaos of the Beaufort Street Festival, so parking was a nightmare, as was dodging the crowds to get to the venue. But nothing was keeping me from getting there.
The venue was packed and the merchandise table was doing a roaring trade which was good to see. I picked up a wrist band and one of the new ladies T-shirt designs. (Pictured to the left.)
I managed to catch up with several like minded, wonderful people I know and headed in. To our delight, every couple of seats had a LUSH gift bag full of wonderful vegan friendly goodies.
There were several speeches made during the night, and musical entertainment, and whilst they were informative and entertaining, we were there to hear Captain Watson speak. So, when he stepped up to begin, the crowd went wild. I learnt a lot from the captains speech, and felt inspired and empowered. I was surprised, given the nature of what Sea Shepherd do, by how funny the captain was. The story of how he initially names one of the ships Gojira (Japanese for Godzilla) had me chuckling. By turns, what Captain Watson had to impart had me feeling outraged, shocked, and deeply saddened. His story of his very first 'hands-on' encounter whilst in Greenpeace, trying to stop Russian whalers, was very powerful and moving. There is no doubting that this man is a great speaker.
After his address to his audience, he was then interviewed on stage which was very insightful, especially for a relative 'newcomer' as me.
Door prizes were won, raffle tickets drawn, and an auction held. My friends and I left that night, with conviction in our hearts. Sea Shepherd, as one supported has said to me, 'get shit done'. They often put themselves on the line, in environmentally hostile places and dangerous situations. And all without the backing of any governments or funding other than donations....which brings me to:
I was delighted to learn that the crew consume only vegan products.
All donations (apart from fresh food) can be dropped off at Sen. Scott Ludlam’s Office, 8 Cantonment Street, Fremantle; Manna Wholefoods; and Absolute Organic, 782 North Beach Rd, Gwelup.
If you have access to F.A.L./ Cash and Carry stores, you can buy in bulk and save $$. Balcatta: 8 Geddes St..& Canning Vale: 218 Bannister Rd.
ABN holders and RAC members can shop at these stores.
Items need to be dropped off by the 3rd of December at the very latest.
I plan to do a big shop very soon!
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