COMMUNITY FUND
QAPA Has Pride The Boston Pride Community Fund supports local grassroots non-profits By
Binh Le, with contributions by Boston Pride
In 2015, Boston Pride instituted a new program, the Community Fund. The Fund is intended as a way of giving back to the community with monetary grants expressly designated to support the work of small, local grassroots non-profits. A portion of the proceeds from the entry donations at the block parties have constituted the principal source of income for the Fund. This year, the monies collected from the High Heel Dash for Charity (see page 22) will also be earmarked for grants. So by coming out and joining in the Pride Week festivities, LGBTQ folk and allies are, in effect, helping to empower local advocacy and service organizations in the work they do in behalf of the queer community, and especially marginalized or underserved populations. 2016 saw the awarding of the first round of grants, totaling over $17,000, to 11 different organizations, most of which serve youth and communities of color. Among the first recipients of the Boston Pride Community Fund is Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance (QAPA). Founded in 1979, QAPA is the oldest LGBTQIA+ pan-Asian organization in the United States. QAPA is committed to providing a supportive social, political, and educational environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and questioning people of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage in the Boston and New England area. Over the past three decades, QAPA has remained a local grassroots communitybased stakeholder – out of which Massachusetts Asian + Pacific Islanders for Health (MAP for Health) was established in 1993. As QAPA is completely run by volunteers, we have been grateful for the support of the Boston Pride Community Fund, which helped us to promote our community advocacy and programs. The following outlines some of the highlights of what our organization accomplished in 2016, thanks in part to the support of the Community Fund:
Community Catalyst Awards Celebration QAPA collaborated with National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) to host the Community Catalyst Awards Celebration on March 24, 2016. We took a moment to honor Amit Dixit and our 37 years of former QAPA Steering Committee members for their efforts in enhancing the visibility of, civic engagement with, and advocacy for the pan-Asian LGBTQI+ community. Over 240 community members attended – much more than we expected. We also signed and delivered nearly 250 postcards in support of the Massachusetts Transgender Public Accommodations Bill. For entertainment, we had special performances by the powerful allwomen Japanese Taiko Drumming troupe of Genki Spark, and drag (text continues on page 150)
QAPA honors Amit Dixit. Credit: Corky Lee.
148 | Boston Pride 2017
