Museum holds fundraiser
Updated: Dec. 6, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National LGBT Museum is holding a holiday fundraising raffle worth $5,000 toward a shopping spree at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams to support the Velvet Foundation, Inc., which is helping to establish the museum.
Teen science prodigy, Jack Andraka, will be the event’s special guest. Andraka, a 16-year-old teen from Crownsville, Md., made news when he launched and handled research on pancreatic cancer. He created a dipstick diagnostic method to test for the disease. Results are available in minutes. The test can also detect ovarian and lung cancer.
Other prizes include a commissioned painting by Rose Siersdale (valued at $2,000), a yoga session with the city’s Marshall Sanders (valued at $150) and opening night tickets on April 25 to “Smokey Joe’s Café at Washington’s Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. S.W., along with a post-cocktail reception with the show’s cast and crew.
The museum, organized by Tim Gold and supported in part by his husband, North Carolina furniture-maker and philanthropist Mitchell Gold, will be the only one in the nation’s capital dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the LGBT communities. This effort hopes to raise $15,000 toward funding the space’s creation.
The drawing takes place on Dec. 12 at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, 1526 14th St. N.W.
Raffle tickets are available online. Cost is $50/1; $75/2; and $100/4.
info/tickets: nationallgbtmuseum.org. rafflecreator.com/pages/662/holiday-party-raffle.
Org releases educational resources
JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass. — Keshet, the U.S. organization working for full inclusion of LGBT Jews in Jewish life, has launched 30 new additions to their LGBT Jewish Educational Resources Collection.
This compilation includes materials suitable for a broad range of age groups, from elementary through college and into adulthood.
The free downloads include: 22 lesson plans penned by Jewish educators from across the U.S.; eight lesson plans written by Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg; and guidelines for introducing LGBT content into the Jewish classrooms.
Rebecca Weiner serves as a curator of Keshet’s educational resources.
Rabbi Greenberg authored “Wrestling with God and Men,” as well as served as a producer with Sandi Dubowski for “Wrestling Before G-d,” a documentary featuring Orthodox LGBT Jews from across the world.
Areas of concentration include a plethora of materials and content. Students can gain insight when they study about what it means to be an ally, with activities involving Talmudic teachings about communal responsibility. Rabbi Greenberg explores differences with seventh through 12th graders. Pre-K through first graders begin an exploration and affirmation into different family structures. Students also look at overcoming hate speech and how language can offend others. Rabbi Greenberg also takes a look at an exploration of Sodom with an adult audience.
Online collections surround topics like Torah Queeries, the Marriage Project and Trans Texts.
To learn more about these resources and to contribute comments about them, email National Program Director Catherine Bell at catherine@keshetonline.org. Keshet is also accepting additional lessons for the collection.
In other news, two articles have been released focusing on adults and children.
“For Interfaith Gay Couples, Another Wedding Obstacle,” by Samuel Freedman of The New York Times, looks at how rabbis are becoming more willing to perform same-sex wedding with interfaith couples. Read it online at nytimes.com/2013/11/02/us/for-interfaith-gay-couples-another-wedding-obstacle.html?_r=0.
B.J. Epstein with PinkNews wrote “The Best LGBT Picture Books for Children.” Read the online feature at pinknews.co.uk/2013/10/29/feature-the-best-lgbt-picture-books-for-children/. This can be purchased online through Keshet.
Welcoming and affirming Jewish congregations in the Carolinas include, but are not limited to: Asheville, Congregation Beth Ha Tephilia, bethhatephila.org, Congregation Beth Israel, bethisraelnc.org; Charlotte, Havurat Tikvah, havurattikvah.org; Temple Beth El, beth-el.com; and Chapel Hill, Kehillah Synagogue, kehillahsynagogue.org.
info: keshetonline.org.
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Does your organization or special interest group have events or great information to share with our readers? If so, be sure to send in your information to specialassignments@qnotescarolinas.com. In the upcoming months, we’ll feature one of you in our news notes section in each issue. Are you a part of a Meetup, Yahoo or Google group and do you do something that’s really newsworthy? Do you provide a service for the community or hold fundraisers for worthy causes? Do you educate the public about LGBT issues or concerns? Of course, this is only a sampling of things we are interested in. It’s the aim of these pieces to inform, enlighten and educate our readers about what we’re doing here in the Carolinas to champion LGBT rights, as well as offer resources for those who may be interested in what your group is doing.