Kevin Bacon talks about Family Pride and queer families!
David on Apr 15th 2007
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you know that Family Pride took part in an amazing competition called the Kevin Bacon Challenge thanks to the efforts of our Board of Directors co chair, Ken Manford. You probably also know that Family Pride surpassed all of our goals AND received the coveted $10,000 matching grant from Kevin Bacon. Well, lucky Ken Manford got a congratulatory call from Kevin Bacon! Enjoy this special guest post from Ken Manford:
I just finished talking with Kevin Bacon! Yeah - I never thought I would say that.
Kevin called to congratulate me on my success in the charity badge campaign for SixDegress.org and to record a conversation to use on his website when they announce the winners of the matching grant next week.
Kevin was so cool. He asked about Family Pride’s work and provided an opportunity for me to talk about the important work the organization does on behalf of families like mine. After I finished talking about the issues we face, he mentioned that he is excited that the badge campaign has provided an opportunity for the public to gain awareness of issues they may not be aware of, such as the discrimination and legal inadequacies that LGBT families deal with in this country.
He asked how I was successful in the challenge and I told him about the powerful networking that took place after we set a goal of 1,138 donations. We discussed how powerful it was to watch local parenting groups engage friends, family and coworkers and create a virtual community of citizens that took a stand for this shared vision of family equality. He was very excited and was proud that his original vision for the effort worked so well. He was also impressed that nearly 50% of the donors who gave through the badge are new donors to the organization.
We talked about how I became obsessed with watching the increase in donations and he asked what our son thought about it. I told him that Jackson loved seeing his picture on my badge and we made a game out of counting the increase in donations. He laughed and shared that he too became obsessed with the contest and was thrilled that we became so engaged.
Thanks to everyone out there that participate in the challenge – you should feel great about the effort and our success. And now – Kevin Bacon is a major donor of Family Pride and knows more about the organization!
To learn more about the Kevin Bacon Challenge, click here.
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