Tag Archives: Food Pantry

DART Green Line coming to Oak Lawn

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24-mile extension of DART train route will include 4 stops in, around Oak Lawn, making travel easier for YFT and food pantry clients

DAVID TAFFET  |  Staff Writer taffet@dallasvoice.com

ALL ABOARD | DART’s Green Line already includes a stop in Deep Ellum, pictured, and Victory Plaza. Beginning Monday, the train will also make stops near Youth First Texas’ location, the Resource Center Dallas Food Pantry and Parkland Hospital. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)

On Dec. 6, DART opens a 24-mile extension of the Green Line with four stations in and around Oak Lawn.

The four new Oak Lawn-area stations are Market Center Station, Southwestern Medical District/Parkland Station, Inwood/Love Field Station and Burbank Station.

Market Center Station is the first stop north of Victory Station. The American Airlines Arena was the northern terminus of the original four miles of the Green Line that opened in 2009 in time to connect riders from the Red and Blue Lines to the State Fair.

Located on Harry Hines Boulevard, Market Center Station should have greatest impact on the youngest members of LGBT community.Located across the street from Youth First Texas, the rail link will make services to the center available to hundreds more young people.

Youth First Texas Director of Development and Administration Sam Wilkes said the organization chose their new location partially because of the proximity to DART.

“Being at a DART hub, we’re excited to see how many will access Youth First Texas now that the line has come to fruition,” Wilkes said.

Bus service has been available, but waiting for a train at a well-lit station at night is safer and the service easier to access, he said.

Parkland Station, the second new Oak Lawn area stop, is located between Maple Avenue and Harry Hines Boulevard near Hudnall Street. Once the new Parkland Hospital is built, the stop will be at the facility’s entrance.

For now, DART will be a short one-block walk away from the main hospital, AIDS clinic Amelia Court, Zale-Lipshy and Children’s Hospital. St. Paul Hospital and the rest of UT Southwestern are a longer walk and connected by shuttle bus service.

Inwood Station on Inwood Road at Denton Drive Cutoff is across the street from the Resource Center Dallas Nutrition Center/Food Pantry. The Dallas Eagle is a block south and Cathedral of Hope is two blocks north. Resource Center Dallas’ proposed new building is also a block from this stop.

“It will make it quicker and easier for clients who access the pantry, especially those who travel great distances,” said Resource Center Dallas spokesman Rafael McDonnell.

The pantry is bracing for new clients who will now be able to access the agency’s services more easily. But McDonnell wasn’t worried about shortages of food due to additional clients.

“We’ll let folks know and we hope they’ll step up as usual,” McDonnell said.

Cathedral of Hope spokesman Coy James said, “We have lots of people who commute from all over the place. We have people who currently use the bus to get to services.”

He said that a number of church staff members were looking at ways to use the train to commute to work.

“We’re looking forward to it,” he said.

To travel by DART to Love Field, bus 39 will connect Inwood Station with the airport terminal. That bus line will operate daily.

Large parking areas will open for commuters from Oak Lawn at Market Center, Inwood and Parkland Stations. Parking in DART lots is free.

The final new Oak Lawn area station is Burbank Station at the north end of Love Field adjacent to Southwest Airlines corporate headquarters. Southwest employees can get to work and Love Field West neighborhood commuters may take advantage of this stop, although no parking is available.

North of Love Field is Bachman Station, located just south of Northwest Highway at Denton Drive. Two more stations in Dallas are located at Walnut Hill Road and Royal Lane along Denton Drive before the Green Line heads into Farmers Branch and Carrollton.

Rafael McDonnell

Next summer, Green Line commuters will be able to travel all the way to Denton when the A Train opens. That line will connect Downtown Denton to Trinity Mills Station with four other stops along the 21-mile route.

From the southern end of the Green Line at Fair Park, four new stations in Pleasant Grove and South Dallas extend the line to the southeast corner of Loop 12.

Also opening Monday is the first phase of the Orange Line. Eventually, that route will connect the system with DFW Airport. Originally the Orange Line will duplicate service from other lines on a limited schedule.

The Orange Line will follow the Red Line route from Plano through Downtown Dallas. Rather than continue to Oak Cliff, the Orange Line will head north along the Green Line route from West End Station to Bachman Station.

When the Orange Line is completed, it will head west from Bachman Lake through Irving and Las Colinas to the airport. The first Irving phase should open in 2012.

Also opening on Monday is the new Lake Highlands Station on Walnut Hill Road at White Rock Trail. This infill stop is between the White Rock Station and LBJ/Skillman Station on the Blue Line. That station will provide an extra stop for White Rock Lake skateboarders, joggers or bike riders taking their bicycles on the train to the trail.

The Blue Line that now terminates in Garland will continue to Rowlett by 2012.

Also planned but without construction dates are a second Downtown alignment. During rush hours, three lines heading through Downtown on one set of tracks gets congested. Now the Orange Line and the expanded service on the Green Line will add extra rail traffic.

The Blue Line will expand south from Ledbetter Station to the new UNT Dallas campus in South Dallas. No date for that expansion is set.

The opening of 15 stations along 24 miles of new track is the largest single-day expansion of a light rail system in the country since 1990. The $1.8 billion Green Line opens on time and within budget.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition December 3, 2010.

—  Michael Stephens

Students from W.E. Greiner Middle School donate 65 frozen turkeys to HIV/AIDS food pantry

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Macario Hernandez, left, assistant principal of W.E. Greiner Middle School, and Jesse Garcia, president of LULAC #4871.

Last week we reported that Resource Center Dallas’ food pantry for people with HIV/AIDS won’t be able to offer turkeys to its clients this Thanksgiving, due to increased demand and declining donations. However, it turns out the pantry will have at least 65 frozen turkeys to give out that were dropped off last Friday by folks from Dallas’ LGBT chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. According to LULAC #4871 President Jesse Garcia, the turkeys were donated by the families of students at W.E. Greiner Middle School.

“I want to publicly thank Greiner Middle School and their assistant principal Macario Hernandez for donating much-needed protein to the Resource Center Dallas food pantry,” Garcia said. “This food pantry helps people of all ages from every part of the city who are affected by HIV. These clients have to deal with being sick and at times are unable to work. Some have to sacrifice between paying for their expensive medicine or affording a good meal. Greiner Middle School just made a big difference.”

Read Garcia’s full press release below.

Resource Center Dallas facilities manager Lionel Solis, left, and volunteer Luis Zarate.

Continue reading “Students from W.E. Greiner Middle School donate 65 frozen turkeys to HIV/AIDS food pantry” »

—  John Wright

Food Pantry needs help as demand soars

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Resource Center service for people with HIV gets most of its stock from NTFB, but even NTFB doesn’t have some of the items they need

Tammye Nash  |  Senior Editor nash@dallasvoice.com

Food pantry volunteers restock items
STOCKING UP | Food pantry volunteers restock items in the refrigerator as the pantry gets ready to open on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Food pantry manager Micki Garrison said budget cutbacks have made the pantry even more dependent on volunteers. (Tammye Nash/Dallas Voice)

What’s on your menu for Thanksgiving? Probably a turkey. Or maybe a ham, or a pot roast. You will most likely have some stuffing or dressing, and plenty of vegetables. Add to that a slice of pie or cake for dessert, and your stomach will be plenty full when you move to the living room to settle in front of the TV to watch football.

If so, then you are one of the lucky one. There are plenty of people out there who would be thankful to have a can of soup as their Thanksgiving meal.
“According to a report just released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texas is the second-hungriest state in the country,” said Micki Garrison, manager of Resource Center Dallas’ food pantry for people with HIV/AIDS. “The number of people going hungry in Texas is over 17 percent. That’s higher than the national average, which is 14 percent.”

And Garrison had some more sobering statistics to offer up. She noted that the food pantry is “closely tied” to the North Texas Food Bank, getting most of its stock there, and that with the recession lingering on, NTFB has itself been struggling to keep up with demand.

“Demand on the North Texas Food Bank is up 20 percent and donations are down 12 percent,” Garrison said.

Although Texas hasn’t been hit as hard as some states during the economic crisis, those on the lower end of the income scale — food banks’ usual clients who already had to stretch to try and make ends meet — have definitely felt the impact. Those who were scraping by before now have to ask for help, and those who already needed help now need even more.

And with the holiday season upon us, the situation will likely get worse.

“We usually serve between 600 and 800 clients a week. During the holidays, that will go up to 1,000 to 1,200 a week,” Garrison said. “We go through five to 10 tons a food each week. It’s a massive undertaking.”

Daniel Sanchez, nutrition center coordinator, said, “Just yesterday, we had 125 people through here in the first hour we were open.”

One thing the food pantry won’t be able to do this year, though, is provide its clients with turkeys for their holiday meals.

“In the past, we have been able to give each client a turkey for the holidays. But we just can’t do that this year,” Garrison said. “We just can’t afford it.”

While all food banks are struggling to keep up, Garrison and Sanchez said that their food pantry faces special battles because their clients all have HIV/AIDS.

“If you are HIV-positive and unable to work, you are probably already dealing with Social Security or disability, and you are probably facing tremendous medical expenses,” Garrison said. “A lot of our clients are struggling every day to make some really touch choices, like choices between buying food or buying their medications, between buying food or paying the rent and the bills.

“A lot of people have to make those choices, yes. But what makes it even more difficult is that for people with HIV, food is medicine. You just can’t take that regimen of medications that HIV-positive people have to take if you don’t have any food in your stomach,” she said. “It’s our mission to do as much as we can for them so they don’t have to make those choices. We can’t meet all their needs, but we do our best to meet as many as possible.”

There is another problem, too: the kinds of foods available at the pantry.

“We have a lot of clients who are feeling bad a lot of the time, and they just aren’t up to cooking a big meal for themselves,” Garrison said. “They just want to be able to open a can of soup and heat that up. Something easy.

“And a lot of our clients experience homelessness. If they come here and we give them a bag of dried beans and some raw chicken, they have no way to cook that. It doesn’t do them any good,” she said.

That’s why, Sanchez said, donations from the community are particularly helpful for the pantry, especially when those donations come in the form of easy-to-prepare items. Canned meats — like tuna, chicken, chili or Spam — are especially welcome, along with canned soups and ramen noodles, canned fruits and vegetables, boxed cereals, dry staples like rice, beans and pasta, juices and condiments.

“Things like that that are really helpful for our clients are the kinds of things we can’t get a lot of from the food bank,” Garrison said. “Getting cash donations is great. I mean, if someone goes to the grocery store and spends a dollar on a can of corn to donate, it’s great. But for that same dollar, I can get five cans of corn.

“Still, I can’t get those other things — the soups and stuff — from the food bank. So we need those donations from the community. We need all the donations, all kinds of donations,” she said.

Sanchez added that the food pantry also needs donations of time. Budget cutbacks have impacted staffing capabilities, which means there is a lot of work available for volunteers.

“We especially need volunteers during the holiday season,” Sanchez said.

Garrison added, “We need people to get the things we can get from the food bank. We need people to donate money. We need people to donate their time. We just ask that people find out how they can best fit into that structure.

“This food pantry is all about the community and how the community can show its love,” she said. “All we are is a vessel for the love of the community.”

Resource Center Dallas Food Pantry is located at 5450 Denton Drive Cutoff in Dallas. The pantry is open noon to 7 p.m. on Mondays, and noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. The pantry is closed Fridays through Sundays. Donation drop-off hours are 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. For information, call 214-521-3390.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 19, 2010.

—  Michael Stephens

United Court elects new emperor

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Jimmie Tucker
Emperor Jimmie Tucker

Sir Jimmie Tucker was elected Emperor 36 of the United Court of the Lone Star Empire. Tucker’s election was announced at Coronation 36, “A Night of Big Bands and Country Swing,” at the Crown Plaza hotel on Saturday Oct, 30.

More than 200 people attended the crowning of Emperor Jimmie. Because no one ran for empress, a regent was expected to be appointed. In an unprecedented move, two regent empresses, Keri Lynn Sommers and Mother Love St. James, were named to assist Emperor Jimmie during his reign.

The UCLSE is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that raises funds for other nonprofit groups. Coronation 36 celebrated the accomplishments of Emperor 35 Jeff Germany and Empress 35 Audrey Jo Schwartz, who raised more than $30,000.

That money will be distributed to their beneficiaries on Nov. 20 at the Brick during an event dubbed “Ride the Dragon.” Groups receiving money include AIDS Interfaith Network, Resource Center Dallas’ HIV/AIDS food pantry, the Susan G. Koman Foundation, Health Services of North Texas, and Youth First Texas. Emperor Jimmie and Co-Regent Empresses Keri Lyn and Mother Love will invest their new court that night as well.

—  David Taffet

Local briefs • 10.08.10

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Danny Dean holding benefitat Dallas Eagle for RCD pantry

Danny Dean presents “Danny Ray’s Country Gravy and Biscuits Drag Show,” benefitting Resource Center Dallas’ food pantry and hot meals programs, on Friday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. at Dallas Eagle, 5740 Maple Ave.

Emcee for the event will be Lips LaRue, and performers include Messy Panocha, Anita Protest, Selena and Patti Le Plae Safe, along with live singer Anton Shaw. The event will include a 50/50 raffle and an auction for gift baskets.

Those attending are also invited to bring in donations of dry goods and canned goods to be donated to the food pantry.

GAIN program to feature Dr. Mitch Carroll discussing healthy living

GAIN, a program of Resource Center Dallas for LGBT seniors, presents “Keeping Up Your Health: Challenges for Today’s GLBT Seniors,” on Thursday, Oct. 21, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the center, 2701 Reagan St.
The program will feature Dr. Mitch Carroll, medical director of ambulatory clinics at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, discussing health issues affecting LGBT seniors and suggestions for living a longer, healthier life.
His presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session, and hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served.

For more information, call 214-528-0144, e-mail gain@rcdallas.org or go online to RCDallas.org.

Postcard project marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Resource Center Dallas is currently conducting a postcard project designed to allow LGBT community members discuss their views and share their stories and art related to domestic violence.

The postcards are blank on one side, allowing people to write or draw a message. The center’s address is preprinted on the other side. Participants can either put a stamp on the card and mail it to the center, or bring it by the center themselves.

The returned postcards will be assembled in a collage. Some may also be used in future advertisements and promotion for the center’s Family Violence Program.

Cards will be available at the center, 2701 Reagan St., starting Friday, Oct. 8. They will also be available at Gaybingo, on Saturday, Oct. 16, at S4, 3911 Cedar Springs Road.

For more information about Resource Center Dallas’ Family Violence Program, call 214-540-4455.

The North Texas LGBT Family Violence Coalition 24-hour hotline is 866-620-9650.

HRC presenting Family Project town hall on LGBT family options

The Human Rights Campaign presents “The Family Project: A Town Hall on Creating LGBT families,” on Saturday, Oct. 16, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Cathedral of Hope, 5910 Cedar Springs Road, for individuals and couples interested in adoption, foster care or surrogacy.

The event will include a panel discussion on options, with panel members sharing their own experiences in creating families through adoption, foster care and surrogacy, as well as the legal and financial considerations involved. Local attorney Lorie Burch will facilitate.

The event is free and open to the public.

Vendor tables are available. For information, contact Leo Cusimano at 214-893-1075 for details.
For more information about the event, contact Cooper Smith by phone at 214-329-9191 or by e-mail cooper@coopersmithagency.com.

For more information on the HRC Family Project, go online to HRC.org/issues/parenting.asp.

The Group holding 4th anniversary

“The Group,” an organization for black men who are HIV-positive, will celebrate its fourth anniversary Thursday, Oct. 14, with a meeting beginning at 7 p.m.

The theme or the evening is “Thankful! Celebrating Four Years of Education, Empowerment and Support,” and guest speaker will be Sabrina Y. Taylor, MSW, of Tibotec Therapeutics.

For more information or to become a member of The Group, call 214-455-7316.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition October 08, 2010.

—  Kevin Thomas

Taft joins RCD as associate director

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Longtime activist says he is excited, scared by the opportunities he has as head of center’s LGBT programs

DAVID TAFFET  |  Staff Writer taffet@dallasvoice.com

Lee Taft
Lee Taft

Resource Center Dallas has hired Lee Taft as associate executive director of GLBT programs and strategic partnerships.

William Waybourn, one of the founders of Resource Center Dallas, called the hiring of Taft genius.

“Talk about a power couple at the right time for the right organization — [Executive Director] Cece [Cox] and Lee are it,” Waybourn said.

Taft was hired to replace Cox who became executive director of the organization after former director Mike McKay left last spring.

“This place has a regional and community history,” Taft said. “But it also is deeply personal. I worked with John [Thomas]. I worked with Bill [Nelson] and Terry [Tebedo].”

Thomas was the first executive director of Resource Center Dallas. Nelson and Tebedo were founding board members and created the food pantry at their store, Crossroads Market. The Nelson-Tebedo clinic on Cedar Springs Road is named for them.

Taft was an attorney for 20 years. As a board member of the Texas Human Rights Foundation, he was involved in the Don Baker case.

Baker, a Dallas school teacher, challenged the Texas sodomy law. In that 1982 lawsuit, Judge Jerry Buchmeyer declared the Texas statute unconstitutional.

“For me, it was a time when I could have been fired on the spot from my law firm,” Taft said about his own involvement in the case. “Jerry wrote a phenomenal decision.”

An en banc hearing by the full court later reversed the ruling.

Taft left Dallas to attend Harvard Divinity School in 1996. In 1999, he became the school’s dean.

But through his affiliation with THRF, Taft had worked with Lambda Legal since its founding. In 2001, Lambda Legal opened its South Central region and tapped Taft to open the Dallas office.

He became the regional spokesperson for the Lawrence v. Texas case that originated in his Dallas office was the case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Texas sodomy law. It has been cited in every case that has advanced LGBT rights since.

Taft called the wording of Lawrence an apology for Hardwick and an exoneration for Baker.

Taft left Lambda Legal later that year to found his own consulting practice as an ethicist.

Among the many clients he helped was the city of Dallas that hired him to steer it through the fake drug scandal in which police planted fake drugs and charged dozens of people on narcotics violations.

“Madeleine Johnson hired me in guiding the response,” Taft said, and based on his recommendations, “The city council passed a five-point resolution.” Johnson was Dallas city attorney at the time.

Among Taft’s recommendations were expressions of remorse, directions to settle the case and changes of policies and procedures. He said the settlement was financially efficient, avoided a racial fracture in the city and has been cited as a model of how a city should respond.

Including expressions of remorse rather than just issuing an apology is something that Taft said was confirmed for him during a discussion he had in Dallas with Bishop Desmond Tutu.

He said reconciliation in South Africa was failing because all that was required was an admission of deeds without an expression of regret.

He said he would bring that lesson to some of his work at the Resource Center, specifically citing the center’s domestic violence program.

Taft said he doesn’t believe an apology is all that’s necessary from batterers: There also needs to be an expression of remorse.

Cox said she was excited about the rich background Taft brings to his new position.

“He has an understanding of this organization and how we fit into the overall GLBT movement and HIV communities we serve,” she said.

She said she planned to keep him quite busy.

“I expect him to be able to do a number of things — position our programs to be more sustainable and relevant in the future; integrate our health and GLBT programs to promote wellness.”

Although Taft wasn’t looking for a job when he applied this summer, he said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

“When Mike McKay became director and described Cece’s position, I thought it was the coolest position in the community,” he said.

Taft said his new job will allow him to be innovative and creative and do something important.

Taft calls his resume eclectic. His list of community activities is as long and varied as his professional career. In addition to THRF, he was a founding board member of AIDS Interfaith Network. He worked with Gay Line, a help line that was later folded into Oak Lawn Community Services. Today, Resource Center Dallas receives many of those types of calls.

Earlier this week, Taft was in California speaking on ethics at Pepperdine University School of Law. After he assumes his new role at the Resource Center, he plans to continue doing some speaking, which he hopes will help develop strategic partnerships for the agency.

Cox added “strategic partnerships” to the job title and said she considers developing new relationships for the agency to be a major goal for Taft.

He said his new position would give him an opportunity to grow.

“There’s something about this,” he said. “It’s on-the-ground community activism that excites me and scares me.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition October 01, 2010.

—  Michael Stephens

Gay Pride Eve³

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That’s right, the main festivities are only three days away, and we’re breaking out the exponents! Actually, here at Instant Tea we’ve been partying nonstop the whole month, which may explain some of the posts you’ve seen lately. Below is a list of Pride-sanctioned events at which we’ll likely continue our epic bender on Thursday. For a full schedule, go here.

Sordid Pride; The Party
Palomar Hotel
Celebrate Pride with complimentary Blythe Bites and soothing southern cocktails, the ultra-hip vibes of DJ Guillaume and all the sordid characters you can handle.
6:30 – 9:00 pm
Suggested Donation of $20 benefiting the Resource Center Food Pantry
Central 214 @ Hotel Palomar
5300 E. Mockingbird Lane
Dallas, Texas 75206
214-443-9339

Juanita’s Annual Pride Dance Contest!
Round-Up Saloon
Prizes for best dancers and best costuming. Cash prizes. No entry fees. Applications available at the front door.
9:00 pm
3912 Cedar Springs Road
Dallas, TX 75219
www.roundupsaloon.com

Gay Pride Karaoke with Little Chalupa
Sue Ellen’s
8:30 pm
Added bonus of KittiCo. Cat Rescue Benefit (upstairs)
7pm – 10pm
3014 Throckmorton
Dallas, Texas 75219
www.caven.com

“Ask The Sex-Pert” 9pm -11pm
The Brick/Joe’s
Text your sex and love questions for Pride Week to
our ‘Sext-Pert’ PATTI LE PLAE SAFE
Show Us Your Pride Strip Contest 11pm
Cash Prize to Winner
2525 Wycliff
Dallas, Texas 75219
www.brickdallas.com

Special Strip show celebrating Pride starting at midnight (12am)
Exklusive
Drink Specials – $2 wells / $2 domestic from 9pm – 11pm
No Cover
4207 Maple Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75219
www.exklusive.tv

Bear of the Month Contest
Dallas Eagle
10:00 pm
5740 Maple Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75235
www.dallaseagle.com

Niky Lauren celebrating the Pride of Latino Heritage
Kaliente
Folklorico Dancers at midnight (12a)
Drink Specials – $2 wells / $2 domestic from 9pm – 11pm
No Cover
4350 Maple Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75219
www.kaliente.cc

—  John Wright

DONATION

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CoreLogic
LOGICAL DONATION | Employees with the Westlake offices of CoreLogic, a California-based information, analytics and services firm, deliver more than 2,000 cans on Tuesday, Aug. 10, to the food pantry at Resource Center Dallas. This is the third year in a row that CoreLogic employees have collected canned goods for the center’s food pantry. (Rafael McDonnell/Resource Center Dallas)

—  Kevin Thomas

Local Briefs • 07.23.10

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Resource Center Dallas receives MAZON grant for second year in a row

Officials at Resource Center Dallas announced this week that the center, for the second year in a row, has received an $8,000 national grant from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger in support of the center’s food and nutrition programs.

“This grant from MAZON provides critical financial support to our long-standing pantry and hot meals programs in these challenging economic times,” said Bret Camp, associate executive director for health and medical services at Resource Center Dallas. “Many of our clients live on a fixed income and are unable to work. The services we provide through these programs improve both their health and quality of life.”

Nutritional services are available through a food pantry as well as hot lunches at the center. The pantry, located at 5450 Denton Drive Cutoff, serves more than 800 clients Monday through Thursday. More than 100 clients a day, each Monday through Friday, eat at the center as part of the hot meals program.

ONE holding screening of HBO documentary ‘The Lazarus Effect’

ONE, a global advocacy and campaigning organization dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, will hold a screening of the HBO documentary “The Lazarus Effect,” on Thursday, July 29, at 7 p.m. at the Progressive Center of Texas in South Side on Lamar, 1409 S. Lamar St. in Dallas.

C.U.R.E. will display panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the screening, and officials with Resource Center Dallas will conduct a discussion about the film after the screening.

Planned Parenthood’s Kelly Hart to be guest speaker at TDWCC meeting

Texas Democratic Women Collin County holds its next general meeting Monday, July 26. The meeting will be held at 6:45 p.m. at the  Founders Room of Shawnee Hall at the Preston Ridge Campus of Collin College, 9700 Wade Blvd. in Frisco.

Guest speaker will be Kelly Hart, executive director of Planned Parenthood of North Texas, who will discuss the health reform law and recent developments at the national level that pertain to women’s health.

There will also be a report from members who attended the Democratic State Convention in Corpus Christi.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 23, 2010.

—  Kevin Thomas

Letters • 07.02.10

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Working tirelessly isn’t ‘too pretty’

I feel that I must respond to the article “Have we made the face of AIDS too pretty?” by David Webb in the June 11 issue of Dallas Voice.

Twenty-two years ago, my partner and I started a variety troupe for no other reason than because we sat many days and nights with friends in our bowling community as they were dying of this dreadful disease, making a difference by changing their briefs, bathing them or cleaning them up after a sick episode. Later, we would cry our eyes out, wishing we were able to help them more.

We started our group to help raise money in any way we could so those friends could have some chance at a quality life amid all the “toil and trouble.”

To say that in doing benefit shows we are glamorizing the face of AIDS, quite honestly, is crap. We, along with many of our friends, have seen the angry head of the “face of AIDS” rise up and take down far too soon so many of those whom we loved and cared for.

Did you know that 90 percent of money raised in our community is raised by men and women who donate their time and talents to entertain in some shape, form or fashion just to try and make a difference? Heaven knows, the government cares very little about the population that is faced with this dreaded disease every single day.

There have been many weekends I wanted to just stay home and watch movies with my partner and spend time with my animals. But my partner and I both believe we have a job to do. You may call it glamorizing the face of AIDS, but we do this with a heartfelt passion that should give hope to many that we are trying to make a difference in their lives somehow, someway, now.

So the next time you hear that someone has gone to get food from the food pantry, or that someone has gotten assistance with their rent so they didn’t have to live on the streets, or that someone who is at a critical stage in their disease and wants to visit their family one last time and they got the plane ticket they needed; remember it is because of all the many wonderful men and women of our community who spend their free time trying to help those in need.

Let me finish by challenging you to come watch us as we tirelessly work our butts off every weekend trying to raise money, one dollar at a time, for those brothers and sisters in need.

If you think what we do “glamorizes” AIDS, then get up off your sofa or bar stool and do your part by working as hard as we do.

I pray to God that the men and women who work so hard and care so much will always stand together, because, heaven knows, if it wasn’t for us, it wouldn’t get done.

Just know there are many organizations that stand with us and know what goes into the things we do, and why we do them.

Home for The Holidays Texas Inc., Legacy Counseling Center and Founders Cottage, Cedar Creek Lake Meals on Wheels, Fort Worth AIDS Food Pantry and AIDS LifeWalk are but a few.

Glamour is about guts — remember that!

Linze Serell, aka Bill Lindsey
Miss Charity America 2010


Hardy, don’t get so worked up

Re: “A platform of ideas — bad ideas” by Hardy Haberman (Dallas Voice, June 25)

Every convention cycle, the apparatchiks within the Texas GOP outdo themselves by passing increasingly bizarre, and unfortunately offensive, party platforms. Why get worked up over these manifestos, which are ground out by a roomful of tools, who are accountable to no one?

It’s an election year, so this is the time to talk to candidates and officeholders who are running under both party labels about the virtue of equal rights for gays and lesbians, and not give credibility to these documents which under our system of government maintain the same force of law as the most recent issue of Tiger Beat magazine.

Steve Labinski
Austin

TO SEND A LETTER  |  We welcome letters from readers. Shorter letters and those addressing a single issue are more likely to be printed. Letters are subject to editing for length and clarity, but we attempt to maintain the writer’s substance and tone. Include  your home address and a daytime telephone number for verification. Send letters to the senior editor, preferably by e-mail (nash@dallasvoice.com). Letters also may be faxed (214-969-7271) or sent via the U.S. Postal Service (Dallas Voice, 4145 Travis St., Third Floor, Dallas TX 75204). All letters become the property of Dallas Voice.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 02, 2010.

—  Kevin Thomas