Everyone has a right to options and information that can make them active participants in bettering their own lives, as well the lives of all: humans, non-humans and the planet.

About the Project

Please see our Mission Page.

About the Collaborators

The Happy Cart is a collaborative program managed and run by three non-profits:
the Institute for Animal Happiness , People’s Place and NY Farm Animal Save.

The Institute for Animal Happiness is a small but non-stop Animal Rescue and Intersectional Vegan Advocacy organization currently based in Woodstock, NY (and hoping to relocate back to Kingston) They have been caring for rescued chickens - many of them disabled or facing significant health challenges - since 2008. As part of their mission to create more awareness of vegan ethics in the Hudson Valley, they also produce Hudson Valley Vegfest, a vibrant festival in Kingston NY dedicated to issues of food justice. They also publish The Hudson Valley Vegan Guide as a local resource and promote compassion-based arts via Kingston Animalia. Friends donated a vintage hot dog cart to IFAH and in the process of rehabbing and refurbishing it, the Happy Cart program idea was born.

People’s Place provides assistance to anyone who needs it, and has been helping support and empower the local and extended community for 50+ years. They are the largest food pantry in Ulster County, and the pantry always has a selection of fresh produce and many veg options on it’s shelves. In addition to the food pantry, People’s Place provides clothing, books, and countless other supplies to adults and children through a variety of different programs, from their thrift store to their all-free Community Cafe (which always has a veg option) to their newly-opened Wellness Empowerment Center, which offers a full revolving roster of educational opportunities and classes covering a wide range of subjects related to personal and communal health and well-being.

NY Farm Animal Save was formed in the summer of 2013, and held their first peaceful “bearing witness” vigil in September of that year. They are an all-volunteer group whose mission is to promote the benefits of a vegan and compassionate lifestyle. They seek to educate the public through bearing witness, community outreach and education where the main issues are the suffering of “food” animals, animal experimentation, human health and environmental well-being. Their goals are to put glass walls on all exploitative businesses in New York State and contribute to the public debate about the place of animals in our society. Whether through one-on-one conversation, group action, or our billboard and sign campaigns, they are an inclusive group that welcomes all who wish to participate and hope you will want to “become the change you wish to see.”

The Happy Cart project marks an historic first-time collaboration of regional organizations that support both human and non-humans to produce a program that is strongly in support of both constituencies. In doing so, we acknowledge the interconnectedness of our well-being and collective futures, and we set out to forge bold new pathways rooted in compassion, wellness and support for everyone.

If you’d like to support this free vegan food mission with a donation, you can do so here:

And to reach a volunteer engaged with the project, click here.