Farm animal sanctuary draws crowds to this southern Oregon festival

The 140 rescued and retired farm animals at the

Tikkun Olam Farm Sanctuary

in Phoenix were unruffled in their corrals Sunday as

Southern Oregon’s 3rd VegFest

took place around them.

The vegan festival fundraiser, which drew more than 2,000 people, champions compassion for all creatures and promotes plant-based foods and practicing an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, said

Hadassah DeJack-Reynolds

, who founded the nonprofit sanctuary on farmland that burned in the 2020 Almeda fire.

Since then, DeJack-Reynolds’ family has built a new farmhouse, restored the land and continues to expand facilities for abused, abandoned, neglected and unwanted farm animals.

Visitors touring the farm Sunday were able to learn about goats Magnolia and Neviah, sheep Hersh and Bubbles and cows Leah and Sir Daniel Moodles.

Gandalf, a proud peacock with lacy white feathers, played it cool in its pen, standing close to a breeze-generating fan on the hot summer day.

Friendly miniature donkeys Olive and Hazel hoped for back rubs, but the sanctuary is not a petting zoo; it’s a haven. Here, animals, mostly chickens, receive healthy food, medical care and no-stress, production-free days for the rest of their life.

In the last year, the sanctuary has doubled the number of goats and sheep, and needs more than $20,000 to build a new barn.

With fundraising before, during and after the festival, the nonprofit still needs $8,000. “So close,” said DeJack-Reynolds, who has been involved with animal rescue for more than 25 years and worked in no-kill shelters and wildlife rehabilitation.

The recently arrived goats and sheep are cruelty cases rescued from stressful situations. “If we didn’t take them, they would have died,” she said. “We really need community support now.“

Raffle tickets were sold at the festival and money was dropped into jars. Donations to build the barn at

Tikkun Olam Farm Sanctuary: A Healing Community

are accepted through Venmo (@tikkun-olam) and PayPal (tikkunolamfs).

The Hebrew phrase “tikkun olam” (pronounced tee-KOON oh-LUHM)

means “world repair”

and has become synonymous with the notion of social action and the pursuit of social justice.

The

Toronto Vegetarian Association

started VegFest in 1985, and inspired plant-based celebrations worldwide. DeJack-Reynolds said Southern Oregon’s VegFest is the only one she knows that is

held at a farm sanctuary

.

Sanctuary supporters rode around the farm in a hay wagon pulled by a well-used tractor, danced with a festival volunteer dressed in an inflated chicken costume and snapped selfies as boisterous chicken Marco crowed inside its enclosure.

More than 40 businesses set up booths at the entrance to the farm.

Amber Soltz, owner of the speciality houseplant business

Luna Love

of Ashland, said, “We are a vegan shop and appreciate the cause. It’s good to be around this type of energy.”

Victoria Nichelle of

Oregon Small Animal Resources

wanted animal supporters to know the group helps people keep their hamster, gerbil, guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla, or find someone to adopt the animal.

“We believe in having compassion for all animals, big and small, and so we think this is a good opportunity to highlight the small guys,” said Nichelle, pointing to a photo collage of rats Walter, Wallace, Watson and Waldo up for adoption.

Other animal advocates and local nonprofits at VegFest were the

Equamore Foundation

sanctuary for neglected, abused and abandoned horses and donkeys,

Rogue Valley Street Dogs

, which provides spay-neuter and essential services to improve the lives of pets living in poverty, and the

Friends of the Animals

(FOTAS), whose foster team volunteers introduced festival goers to a kitten named Sage.

Vegan food purveyors at the event included

Rooted: Eat More Plants

, with two locations in Medford, that served nachos with cashew queso, chipotle-lime jackfruit, walnut-mushroom meat, candied jalapenos and guacamole.

Tatiana Keen of

Plant Baked

in Medford offered indulgent baked goods that are 100% animal free such as s’mores blondies, pistachio coconut macaroons, blueberry limoncello squares, chai snickerdoodle cake, pecan butter chocolate treats, rainbow Pride cake as well as cherry almond and strawberry crunch cake.

The Plant Baked booth also attracted customers with its take-home cornbread with soy bacon, jalapeno “cheeze” Italian olive bread and cinnamon-roll focaccia.

The

Two Feathers Fry Bread

truck added strawberries, blueberries, lemon filling or rosemary filling to fresh-made fry bread. The whip cream was also vegan.

Mahalo Shaved Ice

made the Hawaiian-style frozen dessert with organic cane sugar and no artificial flavors.

Tikkun Olam Farm Sanctuary co-founder and board member and VegFest co-founder Johanna Talley hosted a booth with information about her

Drunken Goats Farm vegan supper club

in Talent.

At the festival, Talley and her team offered gluten-free Thai curry with veggies and tofu, meatless lasagna with focaccia and baklava.

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— Janet Eastman covers design and trends. Reach her at 503-294-4072,


jeastman@oregonian.com


and follow her on X


@janeteastman


.

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