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Holiday wreaths up for bid to help LGBTQ Youth Center at Tanager Place
Online bidding closes Dec. 7 for wreaths decorated by community members, businesses and students
Grace King
Nov. 26, 2021 6:30 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — The Tanager Place LGBTQ Youth Center is auctioning off holiday wreaths created by students and business owners in the community to benefit the center.
Wreaths created for the fundraiser — called “Tis’ the Season of Love” — can be seen and bid on online at tanagerplace.org/prevention/lgbtq-center. Bidding closes at 7 p.m. Dec. 7.
Winning bidders will be contacted to arrange pickup or delivery of the wreath. Every wreath comes with a note about who made it and the meaning behind it.
The wreaths are varied in their decorations. One wreath is more classic — decorated with blue and gold flowers and twinkle lights that run on a battery pack. Another has been painted brown and decorated with antlers and a red nose to look like a reindeer. Still another is decked out in patriotic red, white and blue.
“It’s not about who has the best wreath, it’s about the love that went into decorating the wreaths,” said Lori Ampey, director of the LGBTQ Youth Center.
Blaze Schmidt, 19, member of the center, decorated a wreath to represent LGBTQ pride. Schmidt has been coming to the center since they — Schmidt’s preferred pronoun — were a sophomore in high school. They felt like it was a place they could be themselves.
Pride month is celebrated each year in June to recognize the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people and their ongoing struggle against discrimination. It is celebrated in June to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in 1969 in New York City.
Decorating the wreaths has been a way to extend pride in to the holidays, Schmidt said, a time when many LGBTQ people struggle if they are not accepted by their peers or family.
The wreaths donated and decorated by the community are a symbol of the outpouring of love and acceptance of LGBTQ youth here in Cedar Rapids, Schmidt said.
Students in the Autism Spectrum Disorder Support Group at Tanager Place decorated a wreath by gluing puzzle pieces to it, which is recognized as a symbol of autism awareness.
Silas Thomson, 9, member of the Autism Spectrum Disorder Support Group, painted some of the puzzle pieces blue before helping to glue them on to the wreath.
“It looks very good,” he said.
Ampey is hopeful the fundraiser will bring in about $3,000.
Fifty undecorated wreaths were purchased and donated by Cedar Rapids Toyota. CR Pride Fest donated money for the materials to decorate the wreaths.
The LGBTQ Youth Center is a safe and confidential place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth and allies. The center was launched in 2018 to be a place where youth and families could find support and be themselves.
The center meets weekly on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, very other Friday and every other Sunday afternoon at the Tanager Place Estle Center, 1030 Fifth Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids.
The center offers several support groups including a transgender support group and parent support group. It teaches skills including cooking, financial literacy and social skills.
For questions or more information about the LGBTQ Youth Center, contact Lori Ampey at lampey@tanagerplace.org or by phone at (319) 777-8068.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com