Non-Profit Donates $500K to LGBT Youth Charities

Officials from a California-based non-profit organization recently announced that it has donated $500,000 in grants to LGBT youth.

The Queer Youth Fund, a grant making program at the Liberty Hill Foundation paid for entirely by individual donors, gave five community organizations around the country $100,000 each to "advance safety empowerment and justice for LGBTQ youth," according to a statement by Liberty Hill Foundation.

"Each year, I am awed by the extraordinary courage and abilities of the young people in organizations awarded Queer Youth Fund grants," co-founder Weston Milliken said in the statement. "These young leaders are helping to advance full equality for all Americans and it is an honor to support their passion for social justice work."

The five organizations, located across the nation, include the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center in San Francisco. The organization has created activities for youngsters who are questioning their sexual orientation and for transgender youth. With the $100,000, the center "will focus on empowerment, community building, leadership development and inclusiveness. Youth leaders will implement a mentorship program and leadership academy for this at-risk population and promote social justice involvement," the statement reads."

The Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County (Calif.) earned a donation for its Youth Empowered to Act program, which "focuses on social change through leadership development, community organizing, advocacy and activism." The funds will also be used to expand the organization's after-school drop-in program and improve other leadership programs.

The Idaho Human Rights Education Center will use its funds to promote school safety for Idaho's LGBT youth, to create new Gay Straight Alliances, initiate youth-led conferences to eliminate homophobia in schools, and to educate and train teachers on LGBT issues.

Hawaii's Life Foundation will be able to hire a part-time coordinator for the organization's Gay Straight Alliance. Out Now, located in Springfield, Mass., will increase youth leadership in the organization's QuEST project.