The Gay and Lesbian Association of the Peace has avoided having to fold thanks to some eager new volunteers. After its annual general meeting was attended by over 50 people, 11 new board members were selected. Vice President Yax Posas says she was thankful for the turnout.
“Lots of them were members of the LGBTQ community but a lot of them also were allies. We were very happy to see people in the community standing up and saying we want to be part of this and we want to help.”
GALAP has run in Grande Prairie for over ten years. It aims to increase the quality of life for everyone through a better understanding of sexual diversity. It is a 100% volunteer-based non-profit group.
Earlier in the month, the group put out a plea for new board members saying that if they didn’t find the three to five people it needed, it may have to fold. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and Posas says this new group will allow GALAP to get involved more and take on some new projects.
“Instead of 5 or six people taking on all of it, now we can have committees to take over some of those roles. Especially working with GSAs and working with youth groups, working with schools. We definitely need some more consistency so that we are present there and whenever we’re needed, there’s a team that will be able to be there.”
GALAP also takes part in three major events during the year including the pride flag raising at City Hall, the Pride Pancake Breakfast and the Canada Day Parade. Posas says the group will still be taking volunteers for events like those.
Anyone interested in helping out can visit the Facebook page or the website for volunteer listings.