Portage Chapel Hill United Methodist Church

Thank you all! Between this fundraiser and some cash donations to the church we have more than funded the sign and are happy to send over $800 to OutFront of Kalamazoo.

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On Sunday Aug 20, into the wee hours of Monday, someone shot a hunting arrow into Chapel Hill's LED sign. The most consistent and prominent image on the sign is a Pride Progress flag image, indicative of our full affirmation of LGBTQIA people and commitment to antiracism. While the damage was generally pretty minor ($1750) we wanted to invite our community both to be aware of this vandalism and to support us through this attack on our space and faith community.

Many folks have reached out to ask how they can support us during this time. In addition to covering the cost to repair the sign, making meaningful attempts to create a community where being queer is not a threat and is not met with violence is essential. Regardless of individual opinions, no one should be met with violence, nor should symbols of affirmation be shot at with weapons aimed to kill. Consider ways to make the spaces you encounter free from violence, especially towards any marginalized group. You can find out more about how to do that here: Safe Space Training.

Here in Portage and Kalamazoo County, we all want a space where people are free to thrive. We invite you to help us make that known by supporting our sign repair.

Anything we raise over the amount for the sign, we will donate to OutFront, an organization we support regularly. Check out their work here