Volunteering with Pride

Spencer Pride sees local community outreach and volunteerism as pivotal elements in our effort to spread our message throughout South Central Indiana and beyond.  It demonstrates that – although we are a relatively small organization – we can collectively offer much-needed help that can make a big difference.  Although members are encouraged to volunteer on an individual basis, often Spencer Pride members band together to provide local organizations our assistance in carrying out their own efforts.In the past several months, Spencer Pride has provided volunteers for a variety of events and needs.  We helped staff the Monroe and Owen County Fair booths for Positive Link and volunteered as Quilt Monitors for the Project AIDS Memorial Quilt Display organized by the Community AIDS Action Group of South Central Indiana.  We have partnered with the White River Valley PFLAG, Spencer Presbyterian Church, and Middle Way House for a very well receivedOut in the Silence film screening and community dialogue.  We provided support to market a No Bullying event organized by Middle Way House.  Nearly all of Spencer Pride’s members participated in these activities with many of them contributing to almost every   single one.

Individually, our members have taken on roles in the 2011 National LGBTI Health Summit steering committee and the HIV Prevention Community Planning Group.  They have also continued to play a critical role in theWhite River Valley PFLAG, with Spencer Pride members comprising more than half of the membership and all of the Executive Board of that great organization. 

Over the past several days, members of Spencer Pride have had the special privilege of volunteering for theBloomington PRIDE LGBTQ Film Festival in an effort to show our support for the important area cultural event. We were able to provide several people (David, Jacob, Amber, Jerry, & Jonathan) to fill a variety of different roles during the 2011 event which took place January 28^th – 30^th at the beautiful Buskirk Chumley Theater in downtown Bloomington.  We took on roles as “Ushers,” “Party Set-up,” and “Party Dancers.”  We also volunteered to transport filmmaker Fernanda Cardoso, director of the filmBloomington and television editor for shows such as America’s Next Top Model,Amazing Race, and the upcomingThe Real L Word, to the airport on Saturday.  That provided Spencer Pride president Jonathan Balash a unique opportunity to ask a million questions to Fernanda and gain great insight on what it’s like to edit a major television series while simultaneously directing a critically acclaimed lesbian drama that has already been featured at more than 20 film festivals.
People often ask why Spencer has a gay pride festival but Bloomington does not.  We always have a singular response to that question: Bloomington does have a fantastic LGBT festival.  It’s the PRIDE Film Festival that takes place every January.  This year, we were proud to have been able to be more than just festival-goers.  For more information about the Bloomington PRIDE Film Festival, please visit www.PrideFilmFestival.org.

If you have your own desire to volunteer for a worthwhile local LGTQI organization, please contact us to find out how you can help Spencer Pride as we prepare for SP5 – our 5^th Annual Spencer Pride Festival.