Dear Friend of Rainbow World Fund,

We Are One! Unity is essential to our survival, our healing, and our humanity. In this issue:

  • RWF Statement on Black Lives Matter
  • COVID19: Ways to help our international LGBTQ family
SOLIDARITY: BLACK LIVES MATTER
Along with many organizations in the LGBTQ+ community Rainbow World Fund stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor and too many other black people at the hands of police authorities and civilian vigilantes, have sparked righteous outrage. Nationally and world-wide, the realization that for centuries Black people have endured and carried a burden of systematic racism that can only be broken through a collective and conscious resolve to bring about substantive changes in law and society that promote fairness, equality and respect for Black people. 

Rainbow World Fund was founded with the belief that we are all one human family. Our mission calls for engaging the LGBTQ+ community in making positive change through humanitarian actions internationally, including domestic disaster relief. We have tried to maintain an inclusive agenda that has included funding programs benefitting and empowering Black communities in Africa, Haiti and Cuba, with particular emphasis on serving the needs of the LGBTQ+ members of those communities. Still, we, like the rest of our society, needs to be more aware and sensitive to how our activities and operations touch the lives of Black people and how we can use our resources to eliminate racially-based policies that contribute to suppression and disempowerment of their communities. 
While Rainbow World Fund has successfully contributed to international efforts to address the needs of Black LGBTQ+ people, we will continue to examine our domestic efforts and organizational structure in an ongoing effort to achieve equity and dignity for Black LGBTQ+ people. As we support programs that promote acceptance and understanding, and as we seek to provide humanitarian assistance, the message of the Black Lives Matter movement will be a catalyst for conscious support for the ongoing struggle of Black people for dignity and equality. We cannot and will not turn away from engaging in expanding our own capacity to understand and to put that understanding into action. 

We hope that you; our supporters, followers and friends; will join us in this effort. We welcome your thoughts on how Rainbow World Fund can be a more effective part of this movement.
LGBTQ COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO COVID-19
The belief that we are all one human family is fundamental to Rainbow World Fund and its efforts. And today we are unified with our world community in the concern and effort of facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Borders are closed, entire cities locked down, fences and lines of military are being put in place. And yet, the vast majority of people are looking forward with hope – that the contagion will be contained, that we and those we care about will be safe, and that our lives will once again return to normal. 

Whether you are working from home or out in your workplace as a provider of essential services, your thoughts are not just local and immediate. The ability to connect with others around the world made the rapid spread of Covid9 possible, but it also brings us the ability to know what is happening, to work together and to understand the enormity of the crisis that we all, globally, are facing.

For many of the people served by Rainbow World Fund, the impact of containment and the burden on local economies and infrastructure is enormous. As borders close, those fleeing deadly transphobia are cut off from refuge and isolated with a thin lifeline of support, and the needs of urban centers are already impacting limited food and medical resources and supplies. 

We are working directly with our international partners in Cuba, Guatemala, Iraq, Mexico, Syria, and Uganda:  

  • Providing hygiene kits: water, hand soap, and clothing detergent
  • Supporting hand washing, sanitation, and social distancing skills through community education
  • Funding emergency food and medical needs
  • Distributing grants to LGBTQ organizations of the front lines

We know that many of you are coping with a great deal of uncertainty regarding health, family, jobs and housing. You are all in our hearts, as well. Still, this is a time to remember who we really are — to call upon the better angels of our nature, to respond with courage, compassion and generosity of spirit. We hope that you will be able to reach out and make an effort that will promote the well-being of our global family. Your effort will not only provide needed services but will create and share the hope that is essential to our survival, our healing and humanity. 

Be part of the LGBTQ community's response by making a donation to  Rainbow World Fund’s LGBTQ COVID-19 Emergency Fund.

Please donate today!  100% of your donation will fund these life saving actions. Specify “COVID-19” when you donate online or or when sending a check to RWF, 4111 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114. 
LGBTQ COMPASSION IN ACTION
RWF is the world's first and only all-volunteer, LGBTQ- based humanitarian aid organization. Our mission is to promote peace, unity and hope by leading the LGBTQ movement in participating in humanitarian relief efforts. RWF has donated over $4.4 million of life saving aid.

Bring new hope to our friends and family around the world.  Put your tax-deductible gift to work immediately by donating online  or mail your donation to Rainbow World Fund, 4111 - 18th Street #5, San Francisco, CA 94114.