In conjunction with Pride Month and his B’nei Mitzvah project, Felix Crotty, the current Outreach Officer for the Middle School GSA, began a fundraising campaign for homeless LGBTQIA youth and an Amazon wish list to help get more LGBTQIA books into public and school libraries.

“I decided to focus my project on awareness and access to LGBTQIA+ education for families and raising funds to help LGBTQIA+ teens at risk. If this sounds interesting and you would like to help, there a few ways you can make a difference:

We all know the pandemic has been hard for everyone. But children and teens who are not understood or supported by their families are likely to suffer from many things besides COVID. 

LGBTQIA+ and other teens who have been kicked out of their homes by their own families are at higher risk for homelessness, hunger, abuse, depression, and suicide. 40% of all homeless youth identify as LGBTQIA+. 

I am seeking donations for True Colors United. It is a non-profit organization founded by Cyndi Lauper and others to help end LGBTQIA+ teen homelessness. This organization helps support teens directly. The website is really informative if you want to learn about homelessness for marginalized teens from all backgrounds and be part of the solution. You can donate to my campaign with this link. 

I also set up an Amazon wish list of books for children, teens, parents, teachers, and allies. There are picture books for children, graphic novels, activity books, and resources for teens and adults. All the books will be divided up and donated to neighborhood and school libraries to help them build their LGBTQIA+ book collections. Here is the link to purchase and donate from the wishlist.

As part of my community education work, I am also promoting and participating in the Pride Shabbat panel discussion on LGBTQIA+ education and Jewish teens on Friday, June 18, 2021.”

The Waldorf School of Garden City is extremely proud of Felix’s efforts!