PETA’s president takes Detroit by storm on her “Naked Truth” tour and gives awards to local animal rights activists and a vegan restaurant.

While in Detroit on her Naked Truth international speaking tour, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk presented PETA’s Compassionate Business Award to Detroit Vegan Soul restaurant, Detroit’s first 100 percent vegan soul food café. PETA’s Hero to Animals Award went to longtime PETA supporters and Michigan natives Kim Korona and Tom Progar for their relentless work helping animals.

Detroit Vegan Soul’s mission is to make healthy food accessible to everyone and to fight diet-related diseases. Co-owners and head chefs Erika Boyd and Kirsten Ussery offer customers “veganized” comfort foods such as “catfish” tofu, smoked collard greens, and mac and “cheese.”

Kirsten, a former public relations executive, and her partner, Erika, went vegan after Erika’s father succumbed to cancer. Going vegan made the women realize that what you eat can really change your health—and they wanted to help others eat better, too.

Kirsten and Erika thought a vegan soul food restaurant could make Detroiters more open to giving plant-based foods a try—and so Detroit Vegan Soul was born. The women started adapting favorite recipes passed down from their families, who have roots in Georgia and North Carolina, with vegan ingredients and began with meal delivery and catering. They got their first delivery customer before Kirsten had even finished writing a business plan.

The duo placed in the top four of the Hatch Detroit competition for new entrepreneurs in 2012, and when Detroit Vegan Soul opened its tiny 25-seat restaurant a year later, hungry customers formed a line down the block. Kirsten and Erika just celebrated their one-year anniversary, thanks to their loyal fans and customers.

When PETA pals Kim Korona and Tom Progar lived in New York, the husband-and-wife team attended almost every PETA demonstration, spoke out against Ringling Bros.‘ elephant abuse, and protested the slaughter of geese in Central Park and the turkey round-ups on Long Island. Now this dynamic duo is back in their home state of Michigan, where they helped defeat a state referendum that would have allowed a hunting season for mourning doves, lobbied for a statewide ban on steel-jaw traps in public areas, and raised funds for pro-vegan billboards in the Detroit area. On weekends when a demonstration isn’t scheduled, they go out and leaflet on their own.

Be sure to keep checking The Naked Truth website for future events around the U.S. so that you can listen to and laugh with Newkirk live and understand the facts behind why PETA’s motto is “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” Learn how every action counts, from going vegan to supporting cruelty-free companies.