Summer 2021 Newsletter
Hello friends,
Hope you are safe and enjoyed Pride month this year! Though we are still experiencing challenging times, it is important to remind ourselves that there is light ahead of the tunnel. So let's all hang in there and continue to persevere.
In the meantime, here are a handful of updates and good news:
Join us at our Meet-and-Greet next Saturday, August 14 (see below!)
Our Pre-Launch Field Day was such a success! Our goal was to raise $2000 dollar, and we were able to raise $1300 with an additional $1800 in monetary sponsorships/grants, not including in-kind sponsored partnerships. So thank you to everyone who donated! We truly appreciate you.
Welcome Ashley David to our board! Ashley brings to our team an amazing spirit, a wealth of knowledge and a well of charm and wit! We're excited to have Ashley on our team.
Thank Yous:
Thank you again to our volunteers and everyone who has shown support for our mission. We can't thank you enough.
Our board gives a huge shoutout to Andrew Young and to Joe Alteri, two of our first board members, for providing their crucial guidance, vision, and time in getting Unmatched up and running. Thank you for your term and we look forward to working together on future projects;
Shoutout to Mayor Scott and to Eddie Hawkins with the Baltimore City Mayor's Office;
Thank you to Greg Brightbill and Hayley Frazier at GLSEN Maryland;
Thanks to Jabari Lyles at Baltimore Safe Haven and to Legacy Forte at Bmore Blxck;
A special thanks to Ellie, Billy and Mr. Kovacs for having us partake at Catonsville's inaugural Pride. We also thank Emily Brown for having us table and organize activities with Pride at the Plaza in Silver Spring;
Thank you to Earth Treks Columbia, Hampden, Rockville, and Timonium, for allowing us to table during Pride Month! Mike, Amanda, Ari and Raphy, y'all are awesome;
Thank you to Karen Ramley and Adam McMath at the Pride Center, we truly appreciate all of your help;
Thank you to Nick Jones and Rachel Reinecke at the Baltimore Orioles for sharing word of our team's vision at the LGBTQ+ Pride Night;
Thanks to Collin Francis, Laura Humphreys, Brandon Williams, and Poe with Baltimore Ravens for working with us at our field day in June and for highlighting us on the Baltimore Ravens Twitter Community page; and
Last but certainly but certainly not least, we had a really thoughtful conversation with HopeWorks of Howard County and were featured in the July edition of their Transforming Together podcast. Thank you to MC Carey, Jack Mirabella and to the HopeWorks team for their support and focus on LGBTQ+ athletes, specifically trans athletes.
In closing, our board is grateful and honored to receive all of the support by people and organizations who have joined us in our mission to provide safe and supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ youth and allies in sports. Stay tuned for our partnerships and sponsor highlights in the next newsletter. We hope you'll join us at the meet-and-greet next Saturday, and at our launch event this fall (see below). See you soon!
Cheers,
Olanrele Oni
President