White Center Pride Committee

Annual Report 2022-2023

“It’s your Pride”

Community Built. Community Supported.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR BOARD PRESIDENT

Dear Friends,

At the White Center Pride Committee (WCPC), we believe in the abundant potential of the LGBTQ+ Community with acceptance and emotional well-being, which lead to economic and social mobility. As communities still reeling from the economic and emotional losses of the pandemic contend with decreases of resources and business opportunity, the WCPC continues to be a partner to our community members seeking community and the tools needed to thrive. Our whole-family approach enables us to intervene at critical stages of development by offering programs that provide access to diverse, growth-minded learning and connecting local businesses to opportunities and networking. We partner with community organizations, local leaders, and libraries to build networks of care that respond to local needs and create more growth-minded spaces, increasing the community’s capacity for acceptance and resilience. With our community’s help in the last year, we held a massively successful roster of events and had the highest attendance to our Pride Street Festival in June with over 100 vendors and over 6,000 attendees. To continue this success we ask our community to be on the lookout for various quarterly events in the new year, including our Flag Raising and Pride Street Festival to be held on Saturday, June 1, 2024.

With our warmest wishes,

Eliot Hills, Board President, on behalf of the White Center Pride Committee

PO BOX 46551

Seattle, WA 98146-0551

Website: whitecenterpride.org | Instagram | Facebook | Donate

If you would like to volunteer at any of our events, or attend one of our Board Meetings, please contact: [email protected]

WHAT WE DO

The White Center Pride Committee is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) NonProfit Organization established in 2019 and hosts an annual LGBTQ+ Pride festival and various events throughout the year to help strengthen the LGBTQ+ Community in White Center, Washington.

2022-2023 COMMUNITY EVENTS + OUR IMPACT

• Q4 2022:

  • WC Winter Food Drive kickoff, partnered with over a dozen WC local business and collected over 1,500lbs of food (drive ended in Q1 2023)

    • WC local businesses: Good Dog, Emerald City Discs, Bok a Bok, Beer Star, Lumberyard, Southgate Roller Rink, Mac’s Triangle Pub, Nacho Mama, Fresh Flours, Patrick’s Café & Bakery, and many more.

  • Pride Story Time at the WC Library in partnership with the White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA). Click here to see our video with WCCDA reader Sarey Savy.

    • For further reading, White Center Librarian Destinee Sutton has curated a list of LGBT+ books: in English and French, in Spanish, and in Vietnamese. We are actively looking for Vietnamese, Somali and Arabic Language reader volunteers for future events!

• Q1 2023:

  • Roxbury Lanes Fundraiser and business highlight (1/20/23)

  • Boombox Bar Fundraiser and business highlight (2/23/23)

  • Spanish Language Pride Story Time at the WC Library (3/26/23). Click here to see our video with WCPC Treasurer reader Mel Mercado-Garibay.

  • Lariat Bar Fundraiser and business highlight (3/30/23)

• Q2 2023:

  • 4th Annual Spring Basket Giveaway (4/8/23): 100 baskets given away!

    • Partnered with DubSea Coffee to provide free coffee and pastries; Had an Arts and Crafts table for making tissue paper flowers.

  • Nacho Mama’s Cafe Fundraiser and business highlight (4/27/23)

  • Beer Star Trivia and Twister Community Social (5/11/23)

  • 4th Annual Pride Flag raising at Triangle Park to kick-off Pride Month (6/1/23). Click here to see our video, including community member speeches and parade.

  • 3rd Annual Queer Beer release party at Future Primitive..now “30% more gay!” (6/2/23). Click here to see our Queer Beer Release party video, including live music and Drag performances.

  • 2nd Annual Street Festival “It’s your Pride” (6/3/23). Click here to see our Pride Street Fest video.

    • 100+ vendors

    • 6,000+ attendees

    • Main stage, side stage, Tim Tavern’s stage with over 35 entertainers

    • Lariat Bar wrestling ring and live performances

    • 5 beer gardens (Boombox, Lumberyard, Southgate Roller Rink, Buho and Lariat Bar)

    • 1st ever Children’s Area:

      • Partnership with the WC Library, who brought a bookmobile and awning for Pride Story Time with FilipinX genderqueer performer Aleksa Manila and ASL Interpretation by Becky Butz-Houghton. This also served as a Library Card registration fair for the King County Library system. Click here to see Pride Story time with Aleksa Manila and Becky Butz-Houghton.

      • Featuring Face Painting and Bounce House, bubbles, and a children’s DJ

  • 1st ever Dubsea Fishsticks Pride Night at Mel Olson Stadium (6/15/23), which became the highest attended Thursday game ever. Click here to see our Pride Night at the Ballpark video featuring WCPC’s former Vice President Ken Aphibal throwing the first fish across the plate, and WCPC’s current Vice President and DEI Director Brian Ross leading the audience in the National Anthem.

  • Advocated for Lumberyard Bar with Seattle City Council Member Teresa Mosqueda in order to get water permits processed in time for the 2023 Pride Block Party, enabling Lumberyard Bar to dramatically  increase their patron capacity and business operations.

  • Created an Artist Fund in partnership with Seattle Artist David Johansson, raising $1,352.00 for art programing in White Center, WA.

• Q3 2023:

  • Completed a $2,000 donation to Seattle’s Lambert House, who empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth through the development of leadership, social, and life skills. 

• Q4 2023:

  • Masquerade Ball and Fundraiser at Lumberyard Bar (10/21/23)

  • French Language Pride Story Time at the WC Library (11/4/23). Click here to see our post with WCPC Marketing Director Brian Martin read in French and WCPC Vice President and DEI Director Brian Ross read in English.

THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS, DONERS AND PARTNERS

White Center Food Bank

White Center Library

White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA)

Future Primitive Brewing

Tito’s Vodka

DubSea Coffee

DubSea Fish Sticks

Southgate Roller Rink

Roxbury Lanes

Mac’s Triangle Pub

Seattle Artist David Johansson

Aleksa Manila

Jonathan Wiggs Videography

Lumberyard Bar

Lariat Bar

Boombox Bar

Beer Star

Tim’s Tavern

Nacho Mama’s Cafe

Cartwheel Vintage and Consign

The Stranger

South Seattle Emerald

KNHC-FM c85.9

La Raza del Noroeste

Monumental Undertaking events

Signal Security

Construction Site Services

VIDEOGRAPHY

• 2023 White Center Pride Event Playlist

  • Pride Skate and Leather & Lace Drag Cabaret

  • White Center Pride Pride Flag Raising & Youth Parade '23

  • Queer Beer Release Party at Future Primitive

  • White Center Pride Street Fest '23

  • Drag Storytime with Aleksa Manila

  • Pride Night at the Ballpark

• Pride Story Time at the WC Library

  • Click here to see our video with WCCDA reader Sarey Savy.

  • Click here to see our video with WCPC Treasurer reader Mel Mercado-Garibay.

  • Click here to see the Pride Story time with Aleksa Manila and Becky Butz-Houghton.

  • Click here to see our post with WCPC Marketing Director Brian Martin read in French  and WCPC Vice President and DEI Chair Brian Ross read in English.

• Archive: 2022 White Center Pride Street Festival