What’s round, yellow, and sticky and conveys our basic message?
Anybody who’s been to the Portland Pride Parade knows about the yellow “PFLAG Loves Me” stickers that we give away to cheering spectators along the route. They’re a fixture at our summer tabling events too.
Now imagine the same yellow sticker proclaiming a different message: “PFLAG Needs You!”
In a previous newsletter, I called attention to the legacy of voluntarism that has fueled our chapter since its founding in 1983.
“It’s this combination of vision, compassion, and service to others that has kept PFLAG going through the decades,” I said, “always advocating for a fairer, more inclusive world and constantly adapting to the times, whether it’s a global pandemic, a shift in programming, or the technology we use to communicate with each other.”
It’s been a pleasure to lead a seven-member board comprised entirely of volunteers. I’m the only retiree. Everyone else is employed and nearly all are parents of a transgender adult or child.
But my two-year term as chapter president is ending this month, as it is for another board officer, and we need others to step up—and step up now—in the same way that we have, in the same way that previous generations of moms and dads and LGBTQ+ individuals did before us.
How can you help? What do we need from you?
Certainly, we need board members. Across the country, PFLAG chapters large and small face this common challenge of recruiting capable and reliable people to serve. It does require a sacrifice of time, but the tradeoff will be worth it in so many ways as you help carry on our important work with equally committed volunteers.
You don’t need to be a board member to be a leader in this organization.
In the coming year, we hope to lean on volunteer power in a way we haven’t before. And that means creating committees and individual roles so people can match their skills and interests to a variety of tasks and programs.
What would you like to get involved in?
Fundraising? Social media and marketing? Political advocacy? Public speaking? Scholarships and GSA mini-grants? Support Circle moderating? Events coordinating? Set-up and takedown at meetings and events? Ordering and inventory of PFLAG supplies?
Many of you have already volunteered at tabling events during Pride season. We appreciate it, and we want to build on it.
So, please, think about how you can support PFLAG Portland as an individual volunteer and as a financial supporter.
Our chapter is funded totally by donations. Every dollar we take in goes toward operations and programming. Meeting room rentals, tabling fees and supplies, storage shed costs, mini-grant awards – all of it requires money.
You can make a one-time gift or contribute monthly, beginning at $10, using the Donate/Join button on our spruced-up website. Donations of $35 or more make you a voting member at the Annual Meeting/Chapter Meeting. https://pflagpdx.org/donate/
I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, Sept. 27, 10 am-1 pm, at First United Methodist Church, 1838 SW Jefferson St., near Providence Park.
With gratitude,
George Rede
President, PFLAG Portland