Inspired by the life of late civil rights leader Harvey Milk, San Diego LGBT Pride has created “Milk Money,” a holiday fundraising drive for Mama’s Kitchen, The Trevor Project and Toys for Kids.

“Each organization provides a vital role in assisting the most needed segments of the community, especially during the holidays,” said San Diego LGBT Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte. “No one should have to go hungry while suffering from a life threatening disease. No teenager should feel so isolated that suicide seems like the only option. And no child should be forgotten when we all have the ability to brighten their holidays with toys.”

“We created this campaign to provide food, hope and toys throughout our community,” said San Diego LGBT Pride Director of Development Ken St. Pierre.

Mama’s Kitchen is a local meal delivery service to those living with cancer or AIDS, while The Trevor Project is a national suicide prevention hotline for LGBT youth. Toys for Kids is an annual toy distribution drive, sponsored by the Imperial Court de San Diego.

San Diego Pride selected the beneficiaries because of their status as well respected organizations and that they provide an essential service to the community, deHarte said.

100 percent of the donations received from “Milk Money” will go directly to the organizations.

“San Diego Pride is the vehicle for the fundraising and will not be taking any fee or percentage from any of the funds raised,” St. Pierre said.

The campaign was named after the late civil rights leader Harvey Milk because of his philanthropic legacy.

“Harvey Milk used his life to make positive change in his community. He worked tirelessly to making life better for those he saw as marginalized by society and gave his life to improve the life of others,” St. Pierre said. “Through the ‘Milk Money’ campaign, we are providing an opportunity for all people to follow in the footsteps of Harvey Milk and make change in their own community,” St. Pierre said.

“What a great way for San Diego Pride and the GLBT community to celebrate Harvey and his memory than to continue his work and his outreach,” said San Diego Human Rights Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez, who knew Milk and oversees the Toys for Kids program. “What Pride is doing is keeping his memory alive.”

The Toys for Kids program is funded completely through donations. Since its inception in 1974, the Toys for Kids program has provided toys to agencies that serve disadvantaged children and their families such as women’s shelters and child abuse agencies.

Murray-Ramirez said that last year the organization was able to provide 1,000 toys to children and their families and did so through two main organizations: Barrio Station, which helps children of disadvantaged families and The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s Family Matters program, which provides services and resources to families with one or more parents who are LGBT.

Like the Imperial Courts’ Toys for Kids program, The Trevor Project is completely funded by donations.

“It is the good will of the general public,” said The Trevor Project Executive Director Charles Robbins.

But unlike the Toys for Kids program, the suicide prevention organization has a million dollar budget, 1.8 million to be exact.

“Every year raising a significant amount of money to do this work nationally is always a challenge. Because we don’t receive government funding, fundraising through drives like “Milk Money” is very important,” Robbins said.

The Trevor Project will be providing a suicide prevention workshop to San Diego high school students starting this November.

Robbins said the workshop seeks to answer the following questions: What are the warning signs of suicide, how to help somebody who is suicidal and what do you do if you’re feeling different?

The workshop is critical given that LGBT youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, he said.

The organization received nearly 3,000 calls from Californian youth last year alone, most between the ages of 15 and 16.

The “Milk Money” campaign will run through Dec. 15.

There are a variety of ways people can help the “Milk Money” campaign. People can make a tax-deductible gift online at http://milkmoney.kintera.org, register online and use the campaign’s tools to spread the word about it to friends and family or volunteer by calling 619-297-7683. For more information about the campaign, visit www.SanDiegoPride.org.

– Staff Report