Only three groups have registered so far – Pittsburgh Public Schools, Proud Haven, and Project Silk.
When Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities decided to wrap up 2022 with a gift card drive for LGBTQ youth, ages 12-21, connected with community groups – we did a preliminary assessment of how many youth might participate.
You’ll remember that we are working directly with community groups, not the youth. The groups enroll youth and handle the distribution. We take care of enticing you to make a donation and sorting out those logistics. This protects the youth’s privacy and keeps things manageable for everyone.
We originally anticipated across all of the groups, we’d enroll from 150-200 youth. There are no “need based” requirements. This is a gift from all of us adults to all of the LGBTQ youth who have endured this year. It is our collective acknowledgment of our duty to protect them, to reassure them that we are standing with them, and that we will get out of the way for their amazing leadership to save the day. For they will be the ones who save the day, make no mistake.
Then we opened registration to the community group – any group serving LGBTQ youth in this age range. So far only three have registered – Pittsburgh Public School GSAs, Project Silk, and Proud Haven. We have reached out to others – TransYOUniting, Hugh Lane, SisTers PGH, TrueT PGH, PFLAG Families Like Ours, and had planned to reach out to the Washington County GSA and others.
Because we thought we’d have 150-200 youth.
Well, we already have exceeded our total expectation by nearly 40% – we have close to 300 young people registered.
We’re gonna need a bigger shopping cart.
Did I mention that our registration from was TERFd? Who does that?
This is really good news, actually. To have 40% more youth than we expected identify as out LGBTQ youth and accept our support is a really good thing. It is an outcome we are working toward – to build these relationships, to connect, to have their trust. To keep their trust.
If you are wondering if these kids are just trying to get a free gift card, you do not need to even keep reading. First, trust our youth. Second, trust us adults to have a solid process. Seriously. This isn’t our first rodeo.
Today, we received our first gift card donation. Yay. We are hoping you will be inspired by this phenomenal kick-off and chip in as we walk through this season of giving thanks.
We also hope you will reach out to the community groups that haven’t registered and ask them to do so as soon as possible.
What are we going to do if the numbers of youth keep skyrocketing? Well, we are going to find a solution together. We can lower the gift card amount per youth to ensure everyone gets a card. We can work our asses off to secure more donations. We can be transparent and roll up our sleeves.
Well begun is half done.
Did you catch all of the movie references? That was just for fun.
To donate financially, use these links. Please make a note with your donation to ensure it is designated for this specific project. Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities (PLC) is a 501c3 registered with the IRS and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
GoFundMe Charities (no fees)
Venmo @PittsburghLGBTQ (fees)
Paypal bit.ly/PayPalPLC (no fees)
Facebook.com/PittsburghLGBTQ – click ‘Donations” (no fees)
Checks can be made payable to “Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities” and mailed to 1439 W. North Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15233
DEADLINE FOR CARD DONATIONS: December 31, 2022
