Alissa and Mike are long-time supporters who live in Pocatello, Idaho, a community of 55,000 located almost three and a half hours by car to the southeast of Boise. Each fall for the past 9 years, they have hosted a house party to support Pride Foundation, bringing together friends, neighbors, local educators, and Pride Foundation grantees and scholars from the area for an opportunity to meet, reconnect and build community over food and drink.
Both Mike and Alissa have connections in education, and they leverage their house party as an annual opportunity to get the word out about scholarship opportunities for LGBTQIA+ students in Pocatello. Putting a Pride Foundation banner outside of their home once a year is an important show of support in a community where representation is scarce.
“We support Pride Foundation because doing so has had immediate results here,” says Alissa. “We affect our neighbors’ and families lives.”
Elan Robinson is Pride Foundation’s Event and Donor Relations Coordinator.