THE SAN DIEGO LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 2021 HARVEY MILK DIVERSITY CELEBRATION
Free Virtual Community EventWill Take Place Friday, May 21st At Noon
MAY 13, 2021 -- SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego LGBT Community Center (The Center) has announced its annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast will resume in 2021 as a free virtual community celebration. Last year’s event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and public health protocols.
“We are so pleased to share that our annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast, a vision of City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez, who founded the Breakfast with inaugural co-chairs Dr. Delores A. Jacobs and Commissioner Robert Gleason, will convene on May 21. Although we are gathering virtually, this year’s event promises to be as uplifting as ever, as we celebrate the legacy of Harvey Milk and the accomplishments of our LGBTQ community members, and our elected and appointed officials,” said Caroline (Cara) Dessert, Esq., Chief Executive Officer of The Center.
“Each year, this special community event provides us with a moment to reflect on the progress our movement for equality has made, and the work that remains to be done,” Dessert said. “That inspiration is so important in this moment, as we continue the work to move forward together, as well as uplift and support our honorees and their amazing work, as we do every year."
“While we continue to reimagine and reinvent our community events to keep everyone safe and healthy, it is so important that we continue our community traditions, celebrations and fundraising events that strengthen our vital work,” said Ian Johnson, The Center’s Director of Development. “This year, the funds we raise at our Harvey Milk event will support The Center’s Emergency Fund that allows us to continue to provide an extraordinary level of Emergency Services to our LGBTQ community during this pandemic.”
City Commissioner, and Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Founder and Co-Chair, Nicole Murray-Ramirez shares, “As we celebrate the birthday of Harvey Milk, the LGBTQ Community is reminded that he believed in coalition building and supporting other communities. Now, more than ever, we must follow in his footsteps and remember that an attack against one of us, whether that be discriminatory legislation or hate crimes, is an attack against all of us. We must stand and persevere together."
This year’s honorees include:
Take What You Need
The Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast has chosen Take What You Need to receive the Harvey Milk Community Service Award, acknowledging their leadership and impact in connecting community members to vital food resources. Take What You Need is a grassroots program distributing free food to those in need, and was founded by Darnelle Williams when he saw people in dire need of food and felt helpless. During the pandemic, since May 2020, Take What You Need has provided free groceries to San Diego households every Tuesday- serving an average of 190 households per week. Groceries are purchased with donations from the community, and no one is left out- they have bilingual volunteers on hand and each person who walks through the gate is given a bag to fill with food items of their choice, and is treated with the upmost respect, dignity and love. Darnelle Williams will accept the award on behalf of Take What You Need.
The San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition
The Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast has chosen the San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition to receive the Harvey Milk Community Service Award. Founded in 2015, the Coalition has been hard at work to realize its vision of “a strong, sustained and connected Black LGBTQ community in San Diego.” This past year they have made tremendous strides towards that vision, including ushering in a new 2021 Coalition Cabinet and achieving their status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In the six years since their founding, the Coalition has intentionally filled a gap here in San Diego, providing a space that uplifts and expressly serves the San Diego Black LGBTQ community. Vice President Ronald Epps will accept the reward on behalf of the San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition.
The Center acknowledges and thanks Center Supporters and the Platinum level sponsor Manpower with Linda and Mel Katz for their generous sponsorship of the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast. In celebration of the unity and spirit of the 13th Annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast, Linda and Mel are proud to support such an important event and the critical work The Center has done over the past year.
The Center is also thrilled to welcome San Diego City Firefighters Local 145 as a Gold level partner of the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast. For over ten years, the San Diego City Firefighters Local 145 has supported the LGBTQ community by supporting this annual event.
For more information on sponsorship and recognition opportunities, please contact Ian Johnson at ijohnson@thecentersd.org or (619) 692-2077, ext. 247. City Commissioner and Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Founder Nicole Murray-Ramirez contact information: (619) 241-5672.
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The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, Inc., (d.b.a., The Center) is one of the largest and most vibrant LGBTQ community centers in the nation. Functioning as the San Diego LGBTQ community’s anchor organization, The Center is led by an 13-member board of directors, employs more than 70 paid staff, and utilizes more than 1,200 community volunteers to achieve its twin goals of promoting LGBTQ health/wellness and human rights. The Center provides targeted programs and services to the full diversity of the San Diego LGBTQ community, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, nonbinary, immigrant, and HIV communities to the betterment of our entire San Diego region. Last year, The Center provided more than 87,000 direct service visits to San Diego community members, and through its events, activities, and advocacy, touched the lives of thousands more.
