The Empowering Spirits Foundation (ESF) — a national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality through community service activities — has deemed its second annual national day of service a resounding success.

ESF Second Annual National Day of Service Draws More Than 5,200 Volunteers

“Although the final number is still being tallied, more than 5,200 volunteers throughout the country came out to participate in our second annual day of service,” said ESF President and CEO A. Latham Staples.

“The ESF service events are a great way to help tackle many of the major issues facing Americans today – lack of affordable housing, inadequate health care, and a lack of funds for neighbourhood revitalisation.  And not only are we helping those in need, but these events are designed as an educational tool to allow non-LGBT and LGBT individuals to work side by side and engage in respectful dialogue,” he said, noting that through these types of discussions, people working alongside LGBT volunteers get to know them as “typical people” who are sharing in the sacrifices to improve communities.

“This helps to promote understanding of who we really are and helps to dispel the negative stereotypes,” he said.

Rudy Camacho Jr., Vice President of Sales for San Diego-based TexTango, a cellular texting application company which recently partnered with ESF, agreed.

Camacho was among a group of LGBT volunteers and their straight allies who came out to help members of ESF restore the Gonzalez Canyon in Del Mar, Calif.

“If the goal of ESF is to eliminate barriers between groups of people then Saturday’s event at the Gonzalez Canyon accomplished just that,” Camacho said. “We met people from various socio-economic groups, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations. However, classifications and affiliations did not come into play at all because for a few hours on this October morning we all came to together as people and members of a shared community.

“TexTango is very proud to have participated in the trail improvement project and we’re looking forward to future events.”

Other volunteers came out because they felt there was value in working alongside someone who may not have previously met someone who is openly gay.

“Not only was it a way to make connections, but a way to overcome LGBT stereotypes,” said Clayton Gibson.  “We as humans often expect people to be a certain way based on one thing about them, be it their age, race, or orientation.  Through a personal encounter it can be discovered that a person is much more complex than we thought.”

Picture : Latham Stapeles (left) Rudy Camacho and volunteers (photo are from San Diego event). ( Hottie = in ESF purple t-shirt :P ).

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