5-Year-Old Camano Island Girl Is Finalist in PETA’s ‘Cutest Vegan Kids’ Contest

Pint-Sized Violinist Uses Music and YouTube Videos to Help Animals

For Immediate Release:
April 11, 2016

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Five-year-old Camano Island resident Jovee Holmes has just been named one of the top four female finalists in PETA Kids’ 2016 Cutest Vegan Kids contest—and now it’s up to voters to help PETA Kids decide whether she’ll take home the top prize. Two winners—one girl and one boy—will each receive a trophy, an animal-friendly prize pack, and a year’s worth of bragging rights.

Jovee has eaten animal-free meals since birth, and now that she’s old enough to choose her own food, she joins her vegan parents in believing that “it’s mean to hurt animals” and “all living things deserve to be treated with respect.” She counts persimmons, hummus, and raw carrot cupcakes among her favorite snacks, and she is beloved at a local Whole Foods, where employees have a specially prepared vegan dish waiting for her each Saturday.

Jovee is also a violinist who busks outside a local food co-op to raise money for animal-related causes, and she asked her mom to set up a YouTube channel where she can post videos about the delicious vegan food she eats—and about having type 1 diabetes, with the hope that she can help other kids with the condition.

“Jovee Holmes’ joy, talent, and enthusiasm for being vegan leave an impression on everyone she meets,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Outreach and Campaigns Marta Holmberg. “PETA Kids views all the contestants as winners because they prove that even the littlest person can make a big difference for animals.”

PETA Kids—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that more people are drawn to the benefits of vegan meals every year, including better health, a smaller carbon footprint, and saving the lives of more than 100 animals per vegan annually.

Voting on the finalists to help PETA Kids decide whom it should choose as the winners runs until April 15, with the two winners announced on April 18. The decision will be based on several factors, including vote count. See the full contest details here and the main contest page at PETAKids.com/CutestVegan.