DAY OF CHANGE: Thurs, Aug 3 – Change the future of LGBTQ Youth today – Give back $25, $50, $100 or more

 Hi, I’m Elizabeth, a recent graduate from Winthrop University and the 2017 Summer Fellow at Campus Pride.

Today is the Day of Change for Campus Pride, the day before my summer fellowship ends and the day that we’re asking you to donate to change the lives of LGBTQ youth across the country.

But this is a vague query when you don’t know the specific benefits that your donations can have on us queer folk. So I want to let you know how your generosity directly benefits LGBTQ youth at Campus Pride.I spent my teen years searching for inclusion as a biromantic asexual girl in a fundamentalist culture unable to understand or accept me. I found and fostered this inclusion in Winthrop’s LGBTQ organization. Then in 2016 I found out about Campus Pride, a nonprofit 30 minutes away from Winthrop (in the fundamentalist South) that wanted to help queer youth like me have an easier time in life. It was too late for me to be a camper at Camp Pride, so I decided to initiate my activist life and work at Campus Pride.

I’ve gained social media skills, communication skills, and greater knowledge of the nonprofit world during this summer. But it was while working at Camp Pride in July that I realized the impact of Campus Pride. I saw the powerful connections grow between campers, advisors, and speakers, but I didn’t have the camper experience; rather, I had deep conversations with queer speakers who advised me on how to be a successful asexual activist and school counselor. They were the queer mentors I never had, listening to my dreams and helping me feel less afraid of my uncertain future.

Campus Pride provides numerous resources for students and college campuses across the country while mobilizing activists to go back to their own communities and organize the world into a more accepting, beautiful place for LGBTQ people. It’s here that I have grown my social justice skills and cemented my plans to become a school counselor for LGBTQ youth and a voice for other queeries like me.

With a donation of $10, $25, $50, $100, or more, Campus Pride can continue to build future leaders and more inclusive communities.  Donate now online at CampusPride.org/Donate

It can only continue its work through the generosity of people like you.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Ponds

2017 Campus Pride Summer Fellow