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    Get Involved

    These Dallas charities are making an impact in the LGBTQ community

    Stephanie Allmon Merry
    Aug 20, 2018 | 9:41 am
    DIFFA Dallas
    DIFFA/Dallas hosts multiple events throughout the season.
    DIFFA Dallas/Facebook

    Dallas boasts a vibrant community of volunteers dedicated to empowering, protecting, and supporting LGBTQ residents.

     

    CultureMap's new Dallas Charity Guide, presented in partnership with Frost's Opt for Optimism campaign, is a one-stop resource for locals looking for ways to give back — including to the LGBTQ community. Each month, we are shining a spotlight on charities making a difference and telling stories that showcase the insightful and innovative ways local charities are shaping our community.

     

    Here’s a look at Dallas LGBTQ-affiliated organizations making an impact, and how you can to get involved, volunteer, and donate to support them.

     

     AIDS Services of Dallas
     Mission: The mission of AIDS Service of Dallas (ASD) is to create and strengthen healthy communities through the delivery of quality, affordable, service-enriched housing for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS. ASD's mission includes advocacy, education, and the development of affordable housing options and community development opportunities, both for its residents living with HIV/AIDS, and for economically disadvantaged people.
     How to get involved: There are a variety of ways to get involved with ASD, including volunteering for the ASD Supper Club — a program that provides ASD residents with hot, nutritious meals every night — and helping to stock ASD's grooming supply closet by organizing a grooming supply drive. For a full list of volunteer opportunities, head here.
     Major fundraiser: AIDS Services of Dallas' largest fundraiser, the No Tie Dinner & Dessert Party, is one of Dallas' most highly anticipated and unique social events of the year. Groups of people across DFW host social gatherings, from backyard barbecues for as few as 10 people to formal dinners for 30 or more. In return for their hosts' hospitality, guests are asked to make a donation of $75 or more to ASD, of which all proceeds go toward housing and supportive services for ASD clients. During the evening, all dinner hosts and guests are invited to the Frontiers of Flight Museum, where more than 1,500 people gather annually for the No Tie Dinner & Dessert Party, an exciting evening of entertainment, dancing, music, drinks, and desserts donated by some of Dallas' finest caterers.

     

     ALLGO
     Mission: For over 30 years, Allgo has worked to create and sustain queer people of color activists, groups, organizations, and allies through artistic expression, promoting wellness, and grassroots organizing. Allgo celebrates and nurtures vibrant queer people of color communities in Texas and beyond by supporting artists and artistic expression; promoting health within a wellness model; and mobilizing and building coalitions among groups marginalized by race/ethnicity, gender/gender identity, and sexual orientation/sexual identity in order to enact change.
     How to get involved: Allgo relies heavily on volunteers both in Austin and throughout Texas to build its statewide QPOC movement. Volunteer opportunities include serving on event-planning committees, working events, computer work, DJ services, newsletter writing, designing publicity materials, facilitating workshops and groups, and more. Email allgo@allgo.org for more information.
     Membership: Being a member of Allgo means that you share in the vision of a just and equitable society that celebrates and nurtures vibrant queer people of color communities and that you commit your time and resources to support allgo. Contact Allgo to sign up to become a member, plus make a pledge for either a monthly or annual donation and/or offering a regular in-kind donation and/or regular volunteer work with Allgo.
     Major fundraiser: Allgo’s annual Statewide Queer People Of Color Activist Summit brings together 25 QPOC activists from across the state to explore and develop strategies for the coming year, to celebrate accomplishments, and to learn self-care. The weekend-long summit is a space for dialogue about building a movement coming from a place of engaging possibilities rather than a place of fighting. Summit activities and workshops allow attendees to safely engage in dialogue, reflection, learning, and sharing experiences.

     

     Black Tie Dinner
     Mission: Black Tie Dinner is a nonprofit organization that raises funds for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) supportive organizations serving North Texas through a premier event of empowerment, education, and entertainment in partnership with the community. Since its inception in 1982, Black Tie Dinner has been the largest fundraising dinner for the LGBTQ community in the nation. Each year, Black Tie Dinner selects up to 20 North Texas beneficiaries to receive dinner proceeds as well as the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the Dinner's national beneficiary. To date, Black Tie Dinner has distributed over $22 million.
     How to get involved: There are a number of ways to get involved with Black Tie Dinner, from becoming a sponsor or a table captain to volunteering your time or donating items. For a full list of opportunities, head here.
     Major fundraiser: Each year, up to 3,000 guests experience the Black Tie Dinner, a gala like no other with dinner, award presentations, a live luxury auction, and featured speakers, plus an afterparty with plenty of drinks and dancing.

     

     DIFFA Dallas
     Mission: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA/Dallas) raises funds for organizations that aid in the fight against HIV/AIDS by providing preventative education programs, treatment, and direct care services for people living with/impacted by HIV/AIDS.
     How to get involved: The donations given to DIFFA/Dallas help grant funds to local HIV/AIDS service organizations throughout North Texas, directly impacting the community. DIFFA/Dallas provides opportunities for sponsorships, underwriting, auction, and in-kind donations. You can also register here to become a volunteer.
     Major fundraiser: Highlighting the design community, DIFFA/Dallas hosts multiple events throughout the season including Burgers & Burgundy, DIFFA/Dallas Wreath Collection, and House of DIFFA.

     

     Equality Texas Foundation
     Mission: The Equality Texas Foundation works to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Texans through education, community organizing, and collaboration.
     How to get involved: Donate or volunteer here. You can also pledge to fight back against hate crimes, new laws that grant a license to discriminate, efforts to undermine marriage equality, and blocking access to healthcare here.

     

     Resource Center
     Mission: The mission of the Resource Center is to be a trusted leader that empowers the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) communities and all people affected by HIV through improving health and wellness, strengthening families and communities, and providing transformative education and advocacy.
     How to get involved: More than 1,100 community members each year donate their time and talents to the Resource Center, which offers a variety of opportunities for getting involved, from serving meals to answering phones, stocking shelves, and helping at fundraising events. Volunteers enable the center to provide superior service to the community.
     Membership: Resource Center created the Young Professional Advisory Council in 2013 to support the Center's Youth First program. The Young Professionals Advisory Council is a unique giving circle for young professionals (45 and under) who are passionate about providing opportunities for life skills, leadership development, peer support, and educational advancement to LGBTQ youth in the Dallas area. You can become a member of the Young Professional Advisory Council here.
     Major fundraiser: Each year, the Resource Center hosts the Toast To Life gala, an annual evening featuring a lively theme that help raise money for the Resource Center and its services. Since its inception in 1999, Toast To Life has raised over $4 million to support its mission. Gay Bingo has also provided unique and fun-filled entertainment since 2001. Conducted at S4, Gay Bingo combines drag and comedy, with all funds raised directly benefiting the programs and services of the center.

     

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    Flood News

    More Dallas victims identified from deadly Texas floods

    Associated Press
    Jul 7, 2025 | 5:25 pm
    Death Toll Rises After Flash Floods In Texas Hill Country
    Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images
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    Two 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who had just completed 2nd grade. A beloved soccer coach and teacher. An Alabama elementary school student away from home. These are a few of the dozens of victims lost in devastating flash floods in central Texas.

    The flooding originated from the fast-moving waters of the Guadalupe River on Friday, killing at least 89 people. Authorities say search and rescue efforts are still underway, including for campers missing from a summer camp for girls.

    Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence
    Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence were 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who were among the victims killed by the flooding at Camp Mystic. The girls had just finished second grade, their parents said.

    “Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” John and Lacy Lawrence said in a statement. “We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time."

    David Lawrence, the girls’ grandfather and former publisher of the Miami Herald, said “it has been an unimaginable time for all of us." He said the girls gave their family, including their sister, joy. “They and that joy can never be forgotten,” he said in a statement.

    University Park Elementary School, where Hanna and Rebecca attended, said on its website that “numerous” students were in the Texas Hill Country during the flooding and had to evacuate. The school did not immediately respond to a message left Monday morning.

    “We are deeply saddened to report the loss of multiple students, and our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families deeply affected by this unimaginable tragedy,” the school said on its site.

    Reece and Paula Zunker
    Reece Zunker was described as “a passionate educator and a beloved soccer coach” by Tivy High School in Kerrville.

    “His unwavering dedication to our students, athletes, and the Tivy community touched countless lives and will never be forgotten,” the school posted online Sunday.

    Paula Zunker was a former teacher at the school. “The care and impact she shared with her students continue to be felt, even years later,” the post said.

    The couple’s young children, Lyle and Holland, were still missing, the school said. The family had been staying at a river house in Hunt.

    Dick Eastland
    Among the dead is Dick Eastland, the Camp. Mystic’s director. Paige Sumner, a former camper, described him in a column in the local paper, The Kerrville Daily Times, as “the father figure to all of us while we were away from home.”

    Sumner spent one summer working in the camp office, balancing accounts for the commissary, where campers bought snacks and other essentials like stamps. She wrote that her desk was outside Eastland’s office.

    “He still put campers first in every situation,” wrote Sumner, who is now the head of philanthropy at a community center in Kerrville. “If an issue of any kind that needed attention came over the walkie-talkie, even a camper with a minor injury or the dreaded snake in the river, he would bolt out of the office and jump in a golf cart to get there as fast as he could.”

    Eastland’s grandson, George Eastland, wrote in an Instagram post that his grandfather showed him what a strong Christian man looks like.

    “If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,” he wrote.
    In her column, Sumner noted that the camp had plans for rain.

    “Usually,” she explained, “it means they deliver a special breakfast of sweet rolls to each cabin or singing songs in the Rec Hall. This level of flooding was unprecedented.”

    In a brief telephone call as she grappled with the flood's aftermath at her own office, Sumner was reluctant to add more than she wrote in the column, saying the camp wanted privacy for the families.

    “We are still holding out hope,” she said. “They are broken; they are in shock.”

    Chloe Childress
    Chloe Childress was among the counselors at Camp Mystic who died in the devasting floods. Childress, 19, “lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith,” her family said in a statement.

    “Returning as a counselor to the place she loved so dearly, Chloe was looking forward to dedicating her summer days to loving and mentoring young girls at Camp Mystic,” her family said.

    Childress had just graduated from the Kinkaid School in Houston, which praised her as deeply invested in her community.

    “Chloe had a remarkable way of making people feel seen. She was wise beyond her years, with a steady compassion that settled a room,” Jonathan Eads, the head of the school, said in a letter to the school's community on Sunday. “Whether it was sharing her own challenges to ease someone’s burden or quietly cheering a teammate or classmate through a tough day, Chloe made space for others to feel safe, valued, and brave.”

    Janie Hunt
    Janie Hunt, a relative of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, was just 9 years old.

    Her mother, Anne Hunt, confirmed her death to CNN, while her grandmother Margaret Hunt confirmed it to The Kansas City Star.
    The Chiefs franchise declined to comment. But Clark Hunt’s wife, Tavia Hunt, posted on Instagram and urged people to rely on their faith.

    “If your heart is broken, I assure you God is near,” Tavia Hunt, wrote in the post. “He is gentle with your wounds. And He is still worthy — even when your soul is struggling to believe it.

    Tanya Burwick
    The last time Tanya Burwick's family heard from her was a frantic phone call about the floodwaters as she headed to work at a Walmart early Friday in the San Angelo area. When Burwick didn't show up for work, her employer filed a missing persons report and sent a colleague to look for her.

    Police investigating the 62-year-old's disappearance found Burwick's unoccupied SUV fully submerged later that day. Her body was found the next morning blocks from the vehicle.

    “She lit up the room and had a laugh that made other people laugh,” said Lindsey Burwick, who added that her mom was a beloved parent, grandparent and colleague to many.

    She and her brother Zac said the day was especially difficult because it happened on July Fourth as they were working at a fireworks stand that's been in the family for generations. As word of Tanya Burwick's disappearance spread, people from from Blackwell, a small community of about 250 people, showed up to the stand that's run out of a trailer painted orange.

    “People came to our aid,” Lindsey Burwick said.

    Police in San Angelo said more than 12,000 houses, barns and other buildings have been affected by the floods in the community of roughly 100,000 people.

    “We ask that the public continue to keep the Burwick family in their thoughts and prayers as they navigate this heartbreaking tragedy," the San Angelo Police Department said in a Facebook post.

    Jane Ragsdale
    Jane Ragsdale, 68, devoted her life to the Heart O’the Hills Camp, a summer camp for girls in Texas Hill Country. She was a camper and counselor there herself in the 1970s before becoming a co-owner. By the 1980s, she was director of the camp in Hunt.

    “She was the heart of The Heart,” the camp said in a statement. “She was our guiding light, our example, and our safe place. She had the rare gift of making every person feel seen, loved, and important.”

    Since the camp was between sessions, no children were staying there when the floodwaters rose. The camp’s facilities, directly in the path of the flood, were extensively damaged and access to the site remained difficult, according to camp officials. The camp has been in existence since the 1950s.

    Camp officials said Ragsdale would be remembered for her strength and wisdom.

    “We are heartbroken. But above all, we are grateful,” the camp said. “Grateful to have known her, to have learned from her, and to carry her light forward.”

    In a 2015 oral history for the Kerr County Historical Commission, Ragsdale, whose first name was Cynthie, but went by her middle name Jane, talked about how her father was also a camp director and how much she enjoyed her experiences.

    “I loved every minute of camp from the first time I stepped foot in one,” she recalled.

    Videos of Ragsdale strumming a guitar and singing to campers during a recent session were posted in a memorial on the camp’s Facebook page: “Life is good today. So keep singing ’til we meet, again.”

    Sarah Marsh
    Eight-year-old Sarah Marsh from Alabama had been attending Camp Mystic in Texas, a longtime Christian girls camp in Hunt where several others were killed in the floods. As of Sunday, afternoon, 11 children were still missing.

    Marsh was a student at Cherokee Bend Elementary in suburban Birmingham.

    “This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school, and our entire community,” Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch said in a Facebook post. “Sarah’s passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew and loved her.”

    He said the community — where about 20,000 people reside — would rally behind the Marsh family as they grieved.

    Her parents declined an interview request Sunday “as they mourn this unbearable loss,” the girl’s grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, told The Associated Press in an email.
    “We will always feel blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives. She will live on in our hearts forever!” Marsh wrote on Facebook. “We love you so much, sweet Sarah!”

    She declined further comment. U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama also noted the girl’s tragic death.

    “We continue to pray for the victims’ loved ones, the survivors, those who are still missing, and our brave first responders as search and rescue efforts continue in Texas,” she said in a post on social media platform X.

    Blair and Brooke Harber
    Sisters Blair and Brooke Harber, both students at St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, had been staying alongside the Guadalupe River when their cabin was swept away, according to the school.

    Pastor Joshua J. Whitfield of St. Rita Catholic Community, which shares a campus with the school, said the girls' parents, Annie and RJ Harber, were staying in a different cabin and were safe. However, their grandparents were unaccounted for. Annie Harber has been a longtime teacher at the school.

    “This tragedy has touched every corner of our hearts,” the church said in a statement Sunday.

    Blair, who was enrolled in advanced classes, was involved in numerous school activities from volleyball and basketball to speech and drama. Brooke was a rising sixth grader and a student athlete in volleyball and lacrosse, among other sports. She also participated in speech and drama, according to the church.

    Both were remembered for their kind hearts and warm personalities.

    “We will honor Blair and Brooke’s lives, the light they shared, and the joy they brought to everyone who knew them,” Whitfield wrote in a Saturday letter to parishioners. “And we will surround Annie, RJ, and their extended family with the strength and support of our St. Rita community.”

    The church held a special prayer service Saturday afternoon and offered counseling.

    “Please keep the Harber family in your prayers during this time of profound grief,” Whitfield wrote. “May our faith, our love, and our St. Rita community be a source of strength and comfort in the days ahead.”

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