The election of Donald Trump may have instilled fear in the LGBT community, but that has not stopped charitable individuals from making their voices heard.
More than 300 people and organizations have pledged tens of thousands of dollars in donations to the Mazzoni Center, an organization dedicated to providing health and wellness services to the LGBT community. As of Wednesday afternoon, a total of $41,076.60 was raised through immediate donations and pledges.
An article on Jezebel entitled, “A List of Pro-Women, Pro-Immigrant, Pro-Earth, Anti-Bigotry Organizations That Need Your Support” featured Mazzoni on a list of “a few organizations that work to fight for the rights of our most vulnerable populations, and ways you can volunteer or donate to make sure they are able to work harder than ever.” Many donors have cited the Jezebel article, written by Joanna Rothkopf, as their reason for donating.
Perry Monastero, the director of development and marketing at Mazzoni Center, said the organization received $12,611.60 in immediate gifts from 316 people. Most of these donations are coming from the U.S. and Canada and from new people who have never given to Mazzoni before. Many of the donors have pledged to donate monthly recurring gifts.
“This is a big deal for us as we normally get only six gifts a week in the second week of November, typically totaling less than $700,” Monastero said in an email.p
In addition to funds, Monastero has also received several volunteer requests, as well as resumes for potential employment at Mazzoni.
“It blew me away,” Monastero said of the donations and messages. “I’ve never experienced anything like this at any organization I have worked for. It’s a wonderful positive response to what many people are feeling is an awful future in terms of policies toward our community, communities of color, women and people who don’t necessarily identify on the male-female binary.”
Monastero said the majority of these funds will go toward general operations for Mazzoni. However, they have also received requests from donors to put the funds toward specific departments and Mazzoni has obliged if a department is not already fully funded.
“I want to thank all of these people [who donated],” Monastero said. “It feels like we’re doing good work. It’s exciting to be somewhere where folks are drawn to support the same cause.”
Rothkopf said she was “happily surprised” to hear about the funds the organization has raised.
“I’m just really happy that people responded to the article and that Jezebel can be a resource for people who are looking to help,” Rothkopf said. “The response to the article was very heartening.”