Summer fete: minor disagreement?

HELP! Normally I am simply a foster mother to cats and kittens and active in the local TNR program. But, I’ve managed to get on the organising committee for the summer fete to celebrate the first 10 years of our charity which is called “Social work in aid of man and animal”. We have had one meeting and I already have a difference of opinion with our president and one board member.

Background: the fete will be held on a Sunday at a sports-ground. There will be a dog-training demonstration, amusements for children, homemade cakes and refreshments, a tombola and other things still to be decided. Because of the number of visitors we are hoping to attract, first aid and fire services will attend. Local industries are being asked to sponsor this event and will provide articles for the tombola or a donation. So far so good.

But I have 2 small problems:

1. The president insists that we are not out to make a profit!
   She will be happy if at the end of the day we break even.
   
   NB At the moment, the charity can only just afford to pay vet bills for animals in their care and for those belonging to poorer families in the community. TNR is at a standstill.
   
    
2. We will only sell vegetarian or vegan food.
   
   I have nothing against using agar instead of gelatine in my strawberry flans but I know for a fact that all the men and boys in my immediate family will expect meat on Sunday - even if it is only from a grill. For this reason alone, I will not be able to persuade them to attend. I am sure the firemen will not be too amused either and will expect their mothers or wives to cook proper food when they get home. (A job which I probably won’t be able to avoid either.)

I’m not the type of person who likes arguments – in fact I do anything for a quiet life which is how I got myself on this committee anyway – but if we want publicity we should try to attract everybody, After all our charity is not only for animals but also for people. If the vegetarian and vegan dishes are so tasty we will perhaps have made a few converts! But the public should be able to choose.

I have already purchased some nice articles for the tombola (with my own money) but, if we’re only doing this for our own amusement not-for-profit, and preach to the converted, then I’d rather save these gifts for our normal truly fund-raising tombola, which we hold several times a year, aimed at the general public in the high-street.

Am I being unreasonable? Any comments?

I personally don't think you are being unreasonable but my opinion doesn't count.   You may just have to go along to get along.  Do you know how the other members of the board feel?

Are the two people you have a disagreement with vegan?  It has been my experience that some, not all obviously, vegans can be very inflexible on the subject and can take on a crusader type personality about it.

Thank you for replying. I know I will probably have to go along with the "we stand for animal protection, so nobody should eat them" idea. There are only 4 board members. Three were at the meeting I attended with 6 other organisers where we decided to provide a separate area for non-vegetarian food. The only vote against this decision came from the president (vegetarian trying to be vegan), who phoned around a few days later and tried to beat each one of us down individually. I resisted - but I have been called stubborn for sticking to my guns in the past. I imagine that most of the others can't fight battles on their own and backed down. The fourth board member is vegan. She is extreme. She definitely prefers animals to humans (not sure whether this includes insects and snails). 

I am still worried about making a lot of effort just to break even. Not sure about the morality of asking for sponsorships just to throw it all away on one day in the year. But, now I know why the organisers of the last summer fete 5 years ago are no longer around - only the same president and board members. I'll try to keep to cat minding in the future!

Point #1 is one of those things that depends on the turnout. Surely the president would love to make a profit and is simply hoping that you won't end up in the red?

Point #2 doesn't seem to be a big deal to me personally. Our shelter offers vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare at events, and sells quite a bit of the former, in truth probably more than of the latter. A lot of non-vegetarians seem to think they "shouldn't" eat meat at an event held for the benefit of animals. Vegan fare is trickier. I've attended fetes with vegan-only food and heard a lot of complaints, though they were normally about portions being too small to satisfy people's hunger and not so much about "weird food combinations".