NW PA Pride Thanks 2021 Donors and Supporters

NW PA Pride Alliance is grateful for the wonderful donors and supporters who helped to bring Pride to Erie. Once again, we were forced to not have an in-person event for this year’s Pride, while that may have been the case, we are looking forward to an even larger in-person event for 2022.

With COVID cases still high for the first part of the summer, we partnered again with the Erie Playhouse to stream a Virtual Pride on Saturday, June 26. Our very own Alex Sphon, Tony Gressley, and Erie Playhouse Executive Director Kate Neubert Lechner hosted the event.

On Sunday, June 27, we continued what we hope will be a new tradition here in Erie, the Drive Your Pride at Presque Isle. For this event, decorated vehicles drove from the Tom Ridge Environmental Center around the peninsula.

In August, COVID numbers were finally at a level where we could have more in-person events. Pride Night at the Seawolves was our first event on Thursday, August 12. That following Saturday, we gathered for our annual Pride Picnic, which was then followed by Pride Day at Waldameer on Sunday. Friday, September 10, saw the return of the Miss Erie Pageant with the crowning of Indie Skies.

Finally, we know that we work best when we come together as a community. We continued to partner this year with the Greater Erie Alliance for Equality, Central Outreach, Northwest Rural Aids Alliance, the Zone, and Dickey’s BBQ to offer free HIV testing around in the community.

We partnered again with GEAE for a food drive where we took 950 pounds of food and $500.00 in donations for the Second Harvest Food Bank. In August, we worked together again collecting school supplies for Safe Journey and the Multicultural Resource Center.