At the start of each school year, the Imperial Court de San Diego, along with The LGBT Community Center, leads a campaign for children living below the poverty line to receive backpacks and school supplies. With the help of The LGBT Center’s Family Matters program, children of LGBT parents in need are also given help with the start of school from backpacks to clothing and shoes.
Florence Elementary School is in the heart of Hillcrest. It is an outstanding school with students getting good grades and a very dedicated teaching staff and PTA members. For the last few years the Imperial Court and The LGBT Community Center has adopted the school as almost 80 percent of the families and children live below the poverty line, some being homeless families. Last month the local San Diego Chapter of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) led a two-day clean up and spruce up event of community volunteers, which included members of the Imperial Court and Mayor Kevin Faulconer’ s LGBT Advisory Board. Earlier in the year the LGBT community provided flowers and stage decorations for the graduation ceremony of this wonderful elementary school and the Imperial Court provided both Thanksgiving and Christmas grocery vouchers for families in need.
Recently I joined the principal of Florence Elementary School, PTA leadership and members of the Imperial Court de San Diego for a Saturday ice cream social welcoming children and parents to the school and giving out over 300 backpacks and school supplies to some very happy children.
It is because of you, the LGBT community, bars and businesses that support the Imperial Court and The Center, that we are able to do these things every year, and especially the annual “Christmas Wreath Auction” at Martini’s Above Fourth, which also provides assistance to young students at the downtown LGBT Youth Housing Project run by our Center. The Eddie Conlon LGBT Youth Fund has for decades helped make this annual project possible. This year I give special thanks to Emperor Summer Lee, Empress Jada Reign, Mikie Too, The Gay Men’s Chorus, Carolina Ramos, The Center staff, Big Mike, the HRC and everyone who donated.
Las Memorias Tijuana AIDS Hospice
This past Monday, Emperor Scott Seibert and Empress Suzanne Hale of the Imperial Court of Portland, travelled over 1,100 miles from their city in a van packed with supplies for the Las Memorias Tijuana AIDS Hospice. Joining them in San Diego was our own Empress Lala Too, Empress Toni Saunders along with Empress Maria Galleta of Mexico and AIDS activist Nicolette Ibarria.
For over 30 years the Imperial Court chapters throughout the United States and Canada have raised well over $250,000 for different HIV/AIDS agencies in Tijuana, much of it through the San Diego Court’s “Tijuana AIDS Fund.” Recently, former San Diego Empress Candy Samples, her husband James and friends have also made helping the Las Memorias Hospice one of their top priorities.
HIV/AIDS has no borders and just about 45 minutes away from San Diego people are living with HIV/AIDS in Tijuana and are in very great need, with many living in poverty or homeless.
