DES MOINES, Iowa — Kum & Go is donating the money it had budgeted for Pride Week in Des Moines to two nonprofits: Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and the Transgender Law Center’s Trans Agenda for Liberation.
The Des Moines, Iowa-based convenience-store chain teamed up with Capital City Pride last year to be the lead sponsor for 2020 Pride Week; however, the city’s Pride Week festivities have been postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 crisis. This, coupled with the protests following the killing of George Floyd, led to the change in plans, Kum & Go said in a statement. It forced the company to ask, “How can we show up for the LGBTQ+ community without ignoring the widespread calls for racial justice and reform in this country?”
“It is not about Kum & Go rainbow T-shirts right now. Non-profits decimated by COVID-19 and a likely recession need our support. Black LGBTQ+ organizations whose communities stand at the violent intersection of racism, homophobia and sexism need that support now more than ever,” Kum & Go said. “So, this year, no shirts. No fanny packs. Instead, we are taking the budget we had set aside for those endeavors and are giving 100% of it to two important organizations.”
The Transgender Law Center is a national trans-led organization that employs community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people “alive, thriving and fighting for liberation,” according to the center.
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice works to exclusively advance LGBTQI—or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex—human rights around the globe by supporting grantee partners who challenge oppression and seed change.
Kum & Go, which has nearly 400 stores, has long been dedicated to the communities it serves, sharing 10% of its profits with charitable causes. For four generations, the family-owned chain has focused on providing exceptional service and delivering more than customers expect. The retaileris No. 18 on CSP’s 2020 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by number of retail outlets.
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