Report from the Center
The Center has new hours to accommodate our two new Americorp volunteers. Please welcome Liz Ash and Judy Kiedrowski. Our new hours are: Mondays with Judy from 2:45 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.; Wednesdays with Judy from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. And Liz from 2:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.; Saturdays with Liz from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. We are very happy to have the service of Liz and Judy through July 31, 2008!
Since Liz has started she has had a few requests for some scheduled Meet and Greet gatherings for LGBT people at the Center so we will host 4 of these events the second Saturday of the month for the next 4 months. The Meet and Greet gatherings will be from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00p.m. and are scheduled for May 10th, June 14th, July 12th and August 9th. We will serve light refreshments. Please spread the word!
We'd like to thank Johnnie Schmeckpepper again for volunteering many hours and keeping our Center open while we were in transition between Americorp volunteers. He has also done extensive work keeping our library in order. We were the lucky recipients of 3 very nice book shelves for our library donated from Options In Reproductive Care. Options clinic is completing their extensive remodeling project and needed to find new homes for several items. Thanks Options for thinking of the Center.
I think folks who attended the showing of the video, For The Bible Told Me So hosted by Our Savior's Lutheran Church and the Center, felt it was well attended and very worthwhile. The film is very powerful and thought provoking. There was some discussion afterwards of co-hosting this event again in the Fall 2008 and working to get the word out to the colleges and more churches.
Many, many KUDOS to our Patty Martin, one of our Board members, for making the effort and standing (alone in the rain) across from Holmen High School on the morning of April 25, 2008 with a sign supporting those who participated in The Day Of Silence! We really appreciate your activism!
The Center continues to provide safe space for the monthly (first Wednesday of the month) Transgender Group and the new support group for recovering LGBT people every Friday. The PRIDE committee also continues to meet every other Monday at the Center. Don't forget PRIDE is August 23, 2008.
We continue to need volunteers for upcoming fundraising events. We'll be selling brats at the Onalaska Festival Foods Brat Barn on Saturdays July 19th, 2008 and August 9th, 2008. We also plan on having our annual rummage sale in early August so watch for more details in upcoming monthly newsletters. Please take a minute and look at your summer schedule and give us a call to volunteer at any of these events. We will call you back ASAP!
Leslie Scheld
Center Manager and Board Member