As relief and rescue efforts finally got under way in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, scores of local gay and lesbian groups organized to raise money to send to the ravaged region.
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As relief and rescue efforts finally got under way in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, scores of local gay and lesbian groups organized to raise money to send to the ravaged region.
Local gay residents and at least one gay-owned business are pitching in to raise money for both the two-legged and four-legged victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Among the many fundraising efforts, local impressionist Alfred Lewis will perform in a benefit show at Boom nightclub on Sunday, Sept. 11. The bar, which is located at 2232 Wilton Drive in the Shoppes of Wilton Manors, will offer $3 drink specials from 6 to 8 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m.
Lewis, who is widely known for his dead-on impressions of Hollywood legends, will morph into Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Carol Channing and several other stars for the relief effort.
“I was already booked at Boom, and when the hurricane hit I called up the management and asked, ‘What can a boy in a dress do to help out?’” Lewis said.
The club will donate a large portion of the night’s proceeds to the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and the Humane Society, Lewis said.
Lewis said some of his characters may fire some barbs at what many people see as the federal government’s slow and inadequate response to Katrina.
“Suffice it to say that Ms. Bette [Davis] is pissed off at the government,” Lewis said.
Lending a leather hand
Meanwhile, Michael Egdes, International Mr. Leather 2005 and a resident of Fort Lauderdale, said he and his two partners, James Sands and Todd Smith, will direct the leather community’s response to the disaster.
“We’re coordinating the relief efforts of the leather community on a national level through online forums,” Egdes said. “We’ve asked the Sunshine Cathedral to set up a fund where people can donate online.”
He’s encouraging people to donate either through the Sunshine Cathedral’s Web site, www.SunshineCathedral.org, or his Web site, IML2005.com. All of the donations will be handled through the Sunshine Cathedral, Egdes said.
Egdes, who won the Mr. International Leather contest in Chicago earlier this year to earn his title, said he is disseminating information about fund-raisers and requests for donations in the leather community through his e-mail lists.
Egdes is also promoting a Sept. 19 hurricane relief fund-raiser at Elements bar called “Hands Across the Gulf.”
Central Bark seeks to help four-legged victims
Central Bark Dog Day Care & Training Center, a gay-owned and operated business on Dixie Highway in Oakland Park, will hold a “Yappy Hour” on Sept. 27, from 7 to 9 p.m., to raise money for Emergency Animal Rescue Services, a nonprofit organization that is involved in rescuing abandoned pets in flood-ravaged New Orleans. The center will hold at silent auction to raise money for the cause. Central Bark is located at 3677 N. Dixie Hwy. in Oakland Park.
Julian Cavazos, general manager of Central Bark, said he decided to become involved after seeing a story on the TV news in which a boy was forced to leave his dog behind because the pet wasn’t allowed on the bus or in the shelter where the bus was bound. The camera showed the dog chasing after the bus, Cavazos said.
“I just thought it was horrendous,” Cavazos said.
Many people along the Gulf Coast have been forced to leave their pets behind because they are not allowed in emergency shelters, Cavazos said.
He said there may be thousands of abandoned pets roaming the streets of New Orleans.
EAR and other groups are gathering up the animals, and some of them are being brought to Florida. Animal rescuers will try to locate the pets’ owners and will put those whose owners cannot be located up for adoption. Cavazos said there is also an effort under way to develop a network where people can go online and identify their lost dogs.
As relief and rescue efforts finally got under way in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, scores of local gay and lesbian groups organized to raise money to send to the ravaged region.
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