Smoocher's Voice: Lost n Found Youth

Give Out Day 2014

May 15 is the second annual Give Out Day. The purpose of Give OUT Day, a national initiative, is to engage hundreds of organizations and mobilize thousands of people on a single day across the country to give in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

It’s a chance for LGBTQ groups large and small, to work across the wide range of issues and activities that matter to the LGBTQ community from sports to policy change, families to the arts. It is your chance to support these organizations and stand up for the LGTBQ causes you believe in.

Here at the Smoocher’s Voice blog, we strive to support the LGBTQ community and its allies. We welcome author Brandon Shire to the blog today to write about the importance of supporting LGTBQ youth organizations, such as Lost-n-Found Youth (http://lostnfoundyouth.org/).

Brandon has always had a special place with us at Smoocher's Voice and we could think of no better community member to host today.
He can be found at Brandonshire.com

People sometimes ask why I donate part of the proceeds from my books to charity. For me, this isn’t the type of question that I would normally ask (anyone), but I smile politely and tell the person that making a difference means more to me than simply talking about how things could/should/would be different if…

You, my reader, are the if. I am the if. Together we are the entire what if factor that makes things change.

Let me tell you what we have (collectively) accomplished together:

We have raised thousands of dollars. We have directly impacted over 200 homeless lgbt kids in the last year. We have helped purchase a property that will soon hold a safe house for more homeless lgbt kids. We have helped open a thrift shop so that a charity can self-sustain. We have identified almost 1000 lgbt kids who still need our help. We have gotten a movement together that is beginning to blossom (nationwide) and has just lately demanded action from the federal level on youth homelessness. We have brought lgbt programs to a part of the country that had none. We have led the fight to stop bullying of lgbt kids in school. We have helped set up a Safe House program. The list goes on…and on and on.

I didn’t do this by myself. You didn’t do it by yourself. The two organizations which my readers and I support directly did not do this by themselves. There are a growing number of lgbt youth organizations, there are a growing number of volunteers, there is growing awareness, and… there is still a growing need.

LGBT children are still being pushed into the streets, still being pushed into a life of sexual survival slavery, and still taking their own lives at disproportionately higher rates than their hetero-sexual counterparts.

But sometimes it is just one voice, one minor donation, one pair of socks that makes a difference. It seems odd that a pair of socks can give a person a sense of self worth. But it’s true. I have seen it.

Children crying over socks – to witness this is soul-breaking.

Have your kids ever cried over socks? Have you? Me neither. As a kid I tossed them aside and went for the real gifts. Now I donate them. What a turn-around.

So, as you consider what Give-Out Day is really about, and wonder if your small donation makes a difference. Let me assure you that it does.

Some kid you’ll probably never meet has food, a roof, and cleans socks. That makes a difference, a huge difference. It changes lives. Sometimes, it even saves them.

DONATE for National Give Out Day

As a thank you for coming by the blog and (hopefully) participating in Give Out Day, we have had several authors generously donate to a massive give-away. There will be more than one winner and we would LOVE for as many people as possible to come participate.

We want to thank the following authors for their generosity in donating items for a prize drawing: