Looks like 2019 has started off as an amazing year for our community! We are beyond proud to say that because of everyone’s participation and willingness to come together to help a member of the community, Veronika Versace was able to raise $1,250 at just the impromptu event at the Yin Yang Night Club. That means that with less than 24 hours of notice, the Bears were able to be approximately 1/3 of the attendance of the event and helped promote this event to help someone in dire need.
People have emergencies come up in life, and they need safety nets built by their community to keep them going. Since this event was not to benefit Veronika herself, it showed that our community is willing to help those who we may not even know we exist and may be outside of our alphabet soup.
The Column Bears is a social group that was formed to help our community and you proved that we are able to do just that and do it well with short notice.
People ask why we need gay bars in 2019, and the simple questions are: How many other places would you have seen this instant outpouring of support? Where else would someone have felt safe enough to ask for this kind of assistance? Where else would an event be able to be organized so quickly for someone in need?
The answer is simple: Not many places!
So in addition to being a center of entertainment, these places act as foundations to our community. We are all really just normal people on a different path, but until the entire world sees that, we need these spaces to help support one another.
May your 2019 be amazing, and keep up the good work Bears!
Groups where this event was able to be promoted to include:
- Column Bears
- Show Me Bears
- Kansas City Bear Mafia
- Ozark Bears
- Big O! Bears
- Northwest Arkansas Bears