Shining World Compassion Award Recipient: Hope Bohanec (vegan) – Protector of Our Animal Friends

Today’s Shining World Award program features an empathetic animal-people advocate from California, USA, who strongly believes that there is a need for a paradigm shift to transition to a rightful way of treating our animal-people.

Ms. Hope Bohanec (vegan) embarked on numerous endeavors, even as a teenager, in the hope of changing the public’s perspective of animal-people. Her first profound experience with a wounded rooster-person awakened a deep sense of love within her when the rescued made a successful recovery. During the pandemic, she initiated the “Hope for the Animals Podcast” when she realized that her work needed to continue regardless of the lockdowns since the animal-people were still suffering. She also wrote the book, “The Ultimate Betrayal, Is There Happy Meat?” to expose the cruelty of the livestock-raising industry.

Upon hearing about her compassionate endeavors, our Most Beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) offered Ms. Hope Bohanec (vegan) the “Shining World Compassion Award with sincere respect and high praises for your selfless efforts to help save our planet and its inhabitants, plus US$10,000 as a humble token of support for Compassionate Living to assist in its noble causes. May Heaven smile on you and all involved always, in God’s Benevolence.”

“For decades, you've sacrificed personal comfort and even safety, to advocate for the people of the animal kingdom and the planet through a variety of means, including holding key positions at animal-people rights organizations in California. It all started just out of high-school, inspired by the daring environmental activism of Greenpeace. Then, in the early 1990s, volunteering with direct action groups led to a fascinating, yet dangerous journey to save the environment and animal-people from abuse. This courageous work included sit-ins, presentations, writing, and organizing hundreds of vegan events. Your 2013 book, ‘The Ultimate Betrayal: Is there Happy Meat?’ is a well-received exposé of the animal-people industry's unconscionable ‘humane-washing’ of its cruelty-laden products. It also exemplifies your lifelong mission advocating for the voiceless. Frequently arrested and yet undeterred, it was a change to vegan outreach that propelled you onto the world stage, thus having the most impact to save precious lives. […] May Heaven protect you on your journey of mercy.”