Group of Brooklyn women partners with the Trevor Project to benefit LGBTQ youth

In the wake of last November’s election, one group of Brooklyn women decided to take action and get involved with causes and groups that they feel are potentially at risk under President Trump’s administration.

The group of women knows each other through their children who attend P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill. They decided to come together because, according to member Robin Marshall, they are “passionate and politically active” and were “deeply concerned for vulnerable populations who would probably be ignored or even hurt.”

First and foremost, the group decided to take on the fight to defend Planned Parenthood.

“We immediately banded together and quickly put together a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood,” which drew 150 attendees and raised $30 thousand for women’s healthcare in December, said Marshall.

The group’s March fundraiser for the National Immigration Law Center was also a success in drawing support for undocumented families.

Now, the group looks to take on its most ambitious fundraiser yet, with a 20-day long campaign from April 16 through May 5 called “$20K in 20 Days,” for the Trevor Project, a non-profit that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth.

Unlike the previous fundraisers, which have been one-night-only events, the group hopes the new campaign can extend its reach beyond the women’s immediate social circles. The campaign will culminate with a celebratory event, but group members hope the online campaign will allow them not to be limited by the number of tickets they can sell.

This cause in particular is personal for the mothers in the group.

Marshall said, “We have experience in our public school with transgender students, and it has been wonderful to be part of such a caring community, but that is not the case in all schools. I would never want a child or teenager to feel like they had no one to turn to.”

The campaign’s highlight event on May 6 is open to the first 100 people who donate $125 or more. The event will be hosted by Tim Gunn at Atelier Roquette in Red Hook. Steven Mendelsohn, interim executive director of the Trevor Project, will also be in attendance. The event is almost sold out, but Marshall wants people to know that every dollar counts and group members want the campaign to go far beyond just the event.

On April 16, the donation page went live, and as of this writing, had already raised $7,670.

If you would like to donate, click here.