This year at PrideFest, every visitor will be asked if they would like to donate $1 (or more) to the UWM LGBTQ Resource Center in online sales and at the festival box office.
This $1 donation is part of the Plus One program through Milwaukee Pride to raise money for nonprofits, agencies and local businesses that focus on topics surrounding the LBGTQ community.
“We recognize that our community traditions, including PrideFest, are only sustainable with ongoing nonprofit leadership,” said Michail Takach, vice president of communications for Milwaukee Pride.
This fundraising is both a celebration of the good work happening by these organizations and the future LGTBQ leaders.
“The UWM LGBTQ Resource Center, and its programs, celebrate gender and sexual diversity, cultivate leadership abilities, inspire individual heroism and motivate civic and community engagement,” Takach said.
The Plus One campaign has raised over $35,000 since it began in 2013. Some of the causes funds have been raised for range from marriage equality, youth homelessness, sexual abuse support, gay-straight alliances and community health.
“The funds raised through the Plus One campaign will contribute to sustaining and invigorating the UWM LGBT Resource Center programmatic initiatives that benefit both campus and the broader communities,” said Jennifer Murray, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center. “For example, we envision using some of the funds to bring back the UWM Pride Discovery Camp in 2020, so that we can continue to develop our community’s future LGBTQIA+ leaders.”
The Pride Discovery Camp is for middle school and high school students to learn about LGBTQ+ history, gain a better understanding of their identity and learn leadership skills to become more confident about their own self.
PrideFest will be held June 6-9 on Milwaukee’s Summerfest grounds.
