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YARMOUTHPORT - The GALE (Gay and Lesbian Equity) Fund of The Cape Cod Foundation, which supports our region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) community, has announced the fund’s 5 grantees for 2016 which will receive a total of over $6,000 for their work supporting LGBTQ issues. “A year after the SCOTUS decision we have Orlando, and it reminds us that our work is not done,” said Paul Goddu, Board Chair of the GALE Fund. “The GALE Fund is so grateful for the continued financial contributions of so many that help us give grants to these hardworking organizations.” Since the GALE Fund’s inception in 1998, it has raised and distributed more than $260,000 to local organizations to support programs that improve the lives of LGBTQ individuals and their families. The GALE Fund was established at The Cape Cod Foundation with funding from the National Lesbian & Gay Community Funding Partnership and matching contributions from local businesses and individuals. The goal of the GALE Fund grants program is to encourage informed, relevant, collaborative and effective programming about LGBTQ issues, responding to the most pressing needs identified by the community. Grants supported such activities and programs focusing on: GSA resources in schools, transgender youth, LGBTQ elder services, and services for at-risk LGBTQ people aging out of available youth-oriented services. 2016 GALE Fund Grantees Barnstable Senior Center, $1,742 To support ongoing efforts to expand programs, services and social opportunities for LGBTQ elders on Cape Cod. The goal of the programs is to help build a greater understanding and acceptance within the entire community for the rights and needs of LGBTQ older adults. Family Equality Council, $200 To support outreach for an event during Family Week for local families from Cape Cod. Family Week is a special week of events and programs in Provincetown that is an opportunity for families to feel celebrated, welcomed, and safe, all while finding a community of peers. The Cape Cod families gathering, day of events and discounted tickets will allow local families to attend some of Family Week and get the same benefits of finding a community, making new friends, and feeling affirmed as a family. The GALE Fund will support outreach so that Cape Cod LGBTQ families know about Family Week and the special Cape-focused event. Nauset Regional Middle School, $1,984 To support a collaboration between the Gestalt International Study Center (GISC) in Wellfleet and Nauset Regional Middle School (NRMS) in Orleans. The project is a critical examination of the representation of gender in US media; teaching students to apply critical thinking skills and media literacy to issues of gender in US culture and how that affects the people we become and how we treat each other. Samaritans on Cape Cod and the Islands, $650 To support the purchase of books specific to LGBTQ suicide loss. This purchase continues addressing the goal of helping survivors process their grief by expanding the supply of available resources. By purchasing books specific to LGBTQ suicide loss to include with other resources, Samaritans will be better able to provide support to more members of our community. Thrive! at CIGSYA: the Cape & Islands Gay and Straight Youth Alliance, $1,500 To support Wednesday afternoon drop-in hours at CIGSYA House. These programs include informal time and iMac access from 3:30 to 5:00 pm, followed by the LGBTQ Power Meeting from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. During the Power Meetings a variety of topics are addressed both in-house and sometimes by guest speakers. These include social justice, health and much more. The Cape Cod Foundation is a community foundation whose mission is to build permanent charitable resources for community betterment through informed grantmaking and civic leadership. The Foundation has distributed more than $55 million in grants and scholarships since its inception in 1989. For more information, visit www.capecodfoundation.org or call (508) 790-3040.