Burlington – Outright Vermont, the agency that serves lgbtqq youth in Vermont, has secured grants from a number of funders recently, including at least one nontraditional source: The New England Patriots football team.
      The Patriots awarded Outright $1500 to help fund volunteer Dan Berns's "Sex with Dan" discussions, according to Co-director Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak. "That was completely off the wall," Mulvaney-Stanak declared. The award came through the team's charitable foundation as part of its "Community Quarterback" award. "It certainly breaks stereotypes to have a Superbowl champion team funding Outright," she added.
      Outright was one of 19 finalists and runners-up for nonprofit awards, including three other Vermonters. Grantees received amounts of either $3500 or $1500.
      Other recent funding successes have come from more traditional foundations. The agency got a grant of $4,000 for the first time from the Astrea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. According to a recent Gay City News article about the foundation, its 13 staff members raise $2.5 million per year and the foundation has "a small endowment" of $3 million.
      The Champlain Initiative awarded $2,000 to support Julia Smith's project: producing Outright's "Queer Idol" drag show in City Hall on Pride Night, July 9. Kimberly Legg, a Champlain Initiative staff member, said the grants are awarded by a nine-member youth board representing five area schools. "Julia's project was one of the few that involved a drug-free and alcohol-free event," she explained, also noting that the youth grant team's mission statement includes support for diversity.
      Finally, Outright is awaiting a potentially large grant from the Liberty Hill Foundation, based in Los Angeles. The Vermont agency has qualified as one of ten finalists with a proposal to further develop its statewide outreach and services with additional staff to support and coordinate gay-straight student organizations and organize a youth advisory board.