Tag Archives: LGBTQ community

Virtual Volunteer Opportunities for Pride 2021

Want to volunteer for Pride, but you’re not comfortable attending in person events? We’ve compiled a list of virtual volunteer opportunities you can get involved with.

By Sharon Knolle

If you missed your neighborhood’s Pride parade this year — or if it’s been canceled because of COVID — there are still plenty of virtual volunteer opportunities to help LBGTQ+ communities across the country. Consider donating your time and energy to these organizations who are welcoming virtual volunteers.

Support the Latino Equality Alliance and Win Stuff

Buy a raffle ticket for the Purple Lily Awards, which honors leaders who helped create a safer, healthier, more inclusive space for the Latinx LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles, and you can win major prizes, such as a 43″ flat screen Smart TV, football tickets, Magic Mountain passes and gym passes. This virtual awards ceremony will be held on June 24, but raffle winners don’t have to be present to claim a prize. Proceeds from the event will benefit LEA’s LGBTQ+ youth/parent empowerment and wellness programs.

RSVP for general admission or buy raffle tickets here:

RELATED: 12-year-old girl makes rainbow masks for Pride Month and donates proceeds to The Trevor Project

Write Thank-You Letters to Donors

Take part in a letter-writing campaign to thank donors to COLORS LGBTQ+ Youth Counseling Services, which provides free counseling and psychotherapeutic services to LGBTQ+ youth under 25, their partners, and their families in the Greater Los Angeles Area. People can also share personal stories about the impact that mental health services have had in their lives. Join this virtual event on Saturday June 26th at 1pm.

Raise Money for 2021 Virtual Walk for AIDS to Benefit House of Mercy

A virtual 2021 Walk for AIDS will take place Saturday, September 18, 2021. The money raised will benefit House of Mercy. It’s a North Carolina nonprofit that was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1991 to provide housing and medical care for low-income persons living with AIDS. House of Mercy also needs help with administrative duties, many of which can be done remotely, such as HR support, social media and grant writing. Here is their virtual Volunteer Application form. 

You can also buy items off House of Mercy’s Amazon wish list.

YEAR-ROUND VOLUNTEERING

Join an Encircle Online Friendship Group

You can join an online friendship circle to provide connection, belonging, and community to LGBTQ+ people who might not have the support they need offline. Encircle’s goal is to offer support and encouragement and help attendees of all ages feel more authentically themselves.  For more information about this Utah-based organization, visit here.

Find Auction Items for TIHAN (Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network)

This Tucson Arizona group, which benefits people living with HIV and AIDS, needs help finding items for their charity auction. If you can spend two to five hours a week emailing businesses and individuals — or doing research on who might be a corporate donor  — email them at VolunteerCoordinator@tihan.org. 

Answer Crisis Calls for LGBTQ Youth 

Help provide life-saving support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth with The Trevor Project. They are looking for volunteers to staff their crisis intervention services for LGBTQ+ youth who are struggling with issues such as coming out, identity, depression, and suicide. Digital Crisis Counselors are trained to answer chats or texts 24 hours a day. Volunteers 18 and over are encouraged to apply if you can make a commitment of one three-hour shift/week for at least one year. 

Other organizations looking for volunteers:

Equality Time: Contact lawmakers to help the LGBTQ+ community access essential services without fear of harassment or discrimination.

NQAPIA

The Federation of LGBTQ+ Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander Organizations supports the Queer Asian community across the country.

Pride Foundation: Pride Foundation is seeking volunteers, including  BIPOC, those living in rural areas, and trans and gender-diverse people in the Pacific Northwest.

DC Anti-Violence Project

Watch how this young LGBTQ+ advocate is raising money for The Trevor Project

Watch Charli Williams proudly show off her sewing skills that she’s using to support a good cause–LGBTQ+  rights.

By Heather Newgen

For the last 50 years, Pride Month has been a global celebration to promote equality and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a rebellion against discriminatory police raids of gay bars in New York. Every June people take to the streets for Pride parades and other public festivities to celebrate social and self-acceptance, the freedom to love whomever and to raise awareness for issues the LGBTQ+  faces. But, this year all events have canceled or moved online due to coronavirus, so this 12-year-old girl from Oklahoma found a creative way to show her support.

Charli Williams started making scrunchies a few months ago as a way to make money to pay for her dance lessons, but quickly used her skillset to help others. She’s sewing rainbow themed masks and scrunchies and selling them for $5.00 each. She’s donating $2.00 from every sale The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to the LGBTQ+ community.

“Being a teenager is hard anyways and some kids don’t have a parent or adult they can talk to about their feelings. The Trevor Project can help with that. Mental health is important, Williams told The Voluntourist. [This] “is important to me because not enough people are supportive. Some people don’t like people who are LGBTQ+. For anyone who is anti-LGBTQ,  Williams’ message is, “I live by the rule of ” if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. People who don’t support other’s differences don’t realize that words really can hurt. Words can really change a person’s outlook on life. A single word can change a person’s life.”

RELATED: 12-year-old girl makes rainbow themed masks for Pride Month and donates proceeds to The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project offers a judgement free space and life-saving resources for LGBTQ+, but relies on volunteers to join their team of trained crisis counselors, who are available via email, text or phone 24 hours a day. In addition, volunteers are always needed and welcomed to help with youth outreach and advocacy.  For more information check out their website. If you’d like to help Charli raise money, you can donate fabric or buy one of her items. You can message her on Instagram @scrunchiesbycharli or email her.

12-year-old girl makes rainbow masks for Pride Month and donates proceeds to The Trevor Project

In honor of Pride Month, a young Oklahoma girl is making rainbow scrunchies and masks and will donate proceeds to The Trevor Project.

By Heather Newgen

COVID-19 may have killed the fun festivities for Pride Month, but it hasn’t killed the spirit. This year you won’t see extravagant floats or fabulous parades in the streets, but 12-year-old Charli Williams is still excited about the annual event.

“Pride Month to me is celebrating people’s differences and individuality. It’s showing support for our LGBTQ family and friends,” she told The Voluntourist.

And one way of showing her support is making rainbow colored scrunchies and masks that she’s selling for $5.00 each, plus shipping. For every item sold, she will donate $2.00 to The Trevor Project at the end of June.

Pride Month Scrunchies and a mask Charli Williams made for Pride Month

“Being a teenager is hard anyways and some kids don’t have a parent or adult they can talk to about their feelings. The Trevor Project can help with that. Mental health is important, Williams said. [This] “is important to me because not enough people are supportive. Some people don’t like people who are LGBTQ,” she added.

RELATED: Volunteering with Pride in London is an “amazing time”

The Rainbow Flag became the symbol of Pride in 1978 after artist and gay rights activist Gilbert Baker created the iconic representation of hope, and Williams wanted to pay homage to the colorful emblem.

“I’ve been making scrunchies for about five months. Once people started to order them, I tried to select fabric for holidays. I knew June was Pride Month and I wanted to make something that people would enjoy and could show support.”

She continued, “I have several friends, a family member and a dance teacher who is part of the LGBTQ community. Luckily, I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been treated nicely in the LGBTQ community. I do have some friends though who have gone through or are going through some rough spots dealing with depression and anxiety.”

When Williams isn’t making masks and watching the news to stay informed, she’s dancing; and said it’s her teachers, along with her family, who inspire her to help others.

“I really look up to Misty Copeland and Maria Tallchief. They really changed the standard of what a classic ballerina looks like.  They worked very hard.  I started making scrunchies to help pay for dance expenses like shoes and summer intensives.  Making scrunchies for Pride seemed like a good way to help give back.”

Pride Month is a global celebration to promote equality and LGBTQ rights, as well as to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a rebellion against discriminatory police raids of gay bars in New York City.

For anyone who is anti-LGBTQ,  Williams’ message is, “I live by the rule of ” if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. People who don’t support other’s differences don’t realize that words really can hurt. Words can really change a person’s outlook on life. A single word can change a person’s life.”

To purchase a scrunchie or mask visit @scrunchiesbycharli on Instagram or email scrunchiesbycharli@gmail.com.