The San Diego County chapter of PFLAG awarded three scholarships of $1,000 each for this coming year: the John Bessemer Memorial Scholarship, the Don Mormon Memorial Scholarship and the Mary Wagner Memorial Scholarship.

The purpose of these awards is to recognize outstanding lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gay youth from the community especially for their involvement in the gay community and/or society; to encourage post-secondary education of bisexual, transgender, lesbian or gay persons; and to promote a positive image of bisexual, transgender, lesbian or gay persons in society.

The UCSD LGBT Resource Center announced that Louise Ly and Chilan Ta received the scholarships this year.

Come to an open forum to share your opinions on what you would like to see at this year’s Dyke March. Members of the Dyke March planning committee are looking for feedback from different groups of people in the community on what they would like Dyke March to be.

The forum takes place on Wednesday, July 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the basement of The Center. Call (619) 297-0698 or email dyke march@carambola.org for more information.

Family Matters is asking members to sign up and volunteer to staff the Children’s Garden at this year’s Pride festival in Balboa Park on July 31 and Aug. 1. Volunteers will receive free two-day admission to the festival, one free meal from designated food vendors, an invitation to the volunteer appreciation party, an exclusive volunteer T-shirt and an appreciation bag filled with goodies from the businesses in the community.

Family Matters is also looking for anyone who can volunteer or who knows someone who has access to entertainment (1/2 hour entertainment shows – mimes, puppets, etc), a pool table, a game station (Play Station, video arcade type games), etc.

Contact Family Matters at (619) 298-5431 to volunteer your time or any items to the Children’s Garden at Pride this year.

In a take-off of the popular TV show “American Idol”, the search is officially on this summer throughout San Diego to name the very first IKEA Idol.

For nine consecutive Friday nights this summer, singers are invited to Belmont Park for an open audition in which they can try out to become one of 10 selected contestants who will go on to compete later that evening for a chance at winning $15,000 in cash and prizes during the contest finale in August.

The open audition will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. each Friday evening at Belmont Park. All nine weekly winners will receive a $300 IKEA gift card. The grand prize winner takes home $5,000 in cash, a $5,000 IKEA gift certificate and $5,000 worth of promotional giveaways from contest sponsors and local radio station Channel 93.3.

For additional information and contest details, call (619) 563-453

More than 200 volunteer shifts have been filled already for the upcoming celebration of San Diego LGBT Pride. An ongoing series of signup sessions will continue, however, through July 24 in order to fill a total of 1,000 shifts needed for the milestone event.

Pre-registered volunteers who work a five-hour shift gain free admission to the festival on both days, July 31 and Aug. 1, and receive a meal ticket, souvenir T-shirt and invitation to Pride’s volunteer appreciation party, scheduled for Aug. 22 at the festival site.

Volunteer support is needed in the areas of safety, medical, beer garden, ticket sales, exhibitor relations and more. There will be fewer opportunities this year for walk-up volunteers.

Signup meetings are being held regularly at The Center’s auditorium. For a detailed list of dates and times, call Pride at (619) 297-7683.

Additionally, Pride is still accepting submissions for its juried “Art of Pride” exhibit at the festival, which showcases works in various media by local artists. Proceeds from sales will go directly to the artists. The entry deadline is July 1. Artists must email four photographs of their work in three-inch jpeg files to director@sdpride.org. They are also required to donate one of their pieces for a silent auction to be held during the festival.

San Diego LGBT Pride has scheduled another free float-building workshop to further support those taking part in this year’s 30th anniversary Pride parade on July 30.

The workshop is scheduled for Saturday, July 10, at 12:30 p.m. at the San Diego LGBT Pride office, located at 1807 Robinson St., Suite 106.

Mark Van Milligan of Reliable Parade Floats and Consultants will share creative ideas for acquiring colorful materials and utilizing them to build eye-catching floats.

Additionally, parade and festival vendor applications are currently available. They can be obtained by calling or visiting the Pride office. The first deadline for festival applications is June 11. Late fees will apply thereafter.

This year’s celebration, scheduled for July 30, 31 and Aug. 1, is titled: “30 Years of Pride: Strength in Numbers.” For more information or to inquire about volunteer opportunities, call (619) 297-7683.

The Center announced that complementary HIV/AIDS therapies previously offered through its Holistic AIDS Response Program (HARP) are now be available at six sites throughout the San Diego area.

Beginning Aug. 1, complementary therapies will be available at the San Ysidro Health Center’s CASA South Bay; Being Alive in North County and in central San Diego; Family Health Center’s Latino Services Center in central San Diego; Southeast San Diego’s Coordinated Service Center’s “Our House” location; and at Christie’s Place for Women, Families and Children in central San Diego. Complementary services can include massage, chiropractic care, Reiki and acupuncture. Consumers should check with the specific agency to find out which therapies will be offered and to make appointments after Aug. 1.

For more information regarding services, contact The Center’s director of health services, Debra Stern-Ellis at (619) 260-6380.

On Bingo nights, the doors of the auditorium at The Center open at 6:15 p.m. and the first game starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission for 10 games is $10 for a six-card game pad. Additional pads can be purchased for $5 each. Prizes for the first nine games are $50 and the last game played is $100.

As if all this wasn’t enough to fill your evening, there is also a Door Prize Dash, where 10 lucky attendees can win non-cash prizes, from free bingo games to items donated by various Bingo sponsor merchants in the community.

Bingo at The Center is a seven-year tradition. During that time, Bingo has raised over $100,000 for The Center and its programs. Bingo would not be possible without the weekly dedication of Bingo volunteers. Volunteer responsibilities at Bingo include auditorium set-up, entrance sales, pull tab sales, extra game/money ball sales, calling games, cafe duty, verifying winners, collecting winners’ signatures and delivering their prize money. The Bingo crew welcomes new volunteers and enjoys the camaraderie of working together each week.

Call The Center at (619) 692-2077 ext. 247 for more information.

The Center will offer a diverse and affordable range of computer classes in June and July.

Microsoft Office classes will be offered for $15 each or $40 for three classes. Each participant will receive a free training guide. Advance instruction will be offered for an additional hour for those interested. These classes are sponsored by the Gay & Lesbian Times.

In addition, The Center is offering several free computer courses, including classes on resume basics and how to build your own web page.

The Center’s David Bohnett Cyber Center is a free computer lab available to all members of the community. The Cyber Center provides free classes, mentoring, Internet access and the use of Microsoft Office Suite programs. The Cyber Center is open Monday through Friday 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.; Monday through Wednesday from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.; and Mondays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Special hours are available for youth and seniors, where specialized classes and instruction will be provided.

To sign up for classes, call The Center or stop in during Cyber Center open hours and sign up with the lab monitor on duty. For more information, call Lindsay Sullivan, manager of information technology, at (619) 692-2077 ext. 107.