Expanded event returns in 2010 to raise money for Atlanta Lesbian Health Initiative and Circle of Sisters
Gay-founded Congregation Bet Haverim continues the Festival of Lights celebration tonight
Market featuring retailers, designers and artists aims for holiday shoppers
Popular play based on David Sedaris' ‘Holidays on Ice’ leads a strong upcoming holiday theater schedule
Local bars and clubs host holiday-themed events tonight
Happy Thanksgiving from the staff of The GA Voice...
Be sure to pick up the new edition of the Georgia Voice for your guide to all that’s gay this giving season
For the Kid in All of Us hosts the Toy Party launch party tonight at Jungle
The only place you’ll find a sea monkey girlfriend, kosher dog toys and a giant, green glitter mermaid
Within minutes of setting foot in the United States, I was the recipient of a toy drive. It was Dec. 21 and the American Red Cross’ presence was already on the tarmac at Miami International Airport, welcoming the hundreds of Cuban refugees who were arriving daily on the Pan Am Freedom Flights.
It had already been quite a morning, having left behind everything the Castro regime forbade our family to take with us, save our dignity. Ever grateful for receiving the care package containing the limited basic necessities we would need for an uncertain future, the children also received toys; after all, it was Christmas.
At the time, unimaginable to us, Christmas would be removed from the Cuban calendar in 1969 when Fidel Castro decided it was interfering with the sugar harvest festival — and having declared it an Atheist country in 1962, all public displays of Christmas and Hanukkah would be banned by then.
Atlanta’s LGBT community celebrates the holidays with a whirlwind of parties, musical performances and worship services guaranteed to warm the heart of any gay Grinch.
Perhaps the main party of the season is the annual Toy Party, being staged for the eighth successive year. In less than a decade, it has become a don’t miss event, as well as a great cause. Since Toy Party started in 2003, the event has distributed 27,000 toys and gift cards.
Toy Party, set for Dec. 5 at AmericasMart3, is staged by For the Kid in All of Us, established by gay volunteers to help children in need. In lieu of an admission charge, attendees are asked to bring one unopened toy of at least a $20 value, or a gift card in that amount. More than 20 beneficiaries will be receive the toys.
In 2009, the event had approximately 4,200 in attendance and more are expected this year, according to Christopher Bess, president elect of the organization and chair of the Toy Party. The festivities will be back in the Atrium Building of Americas Mart, says Bess, where the toys will be more prominently on display.