Help Sarah Fight Breast Cancer

Hi friends,

We are so sorry to have to tell you that our beloved friend Sarah Akawa was diagnosed last week (9/8/2025) with triple-negative breast cancer . She is still awaiting a treatment plan from her medical team, but what we know currently is that Sarah’s cancer is very aggressive. She will be starting chemotherapy within the next two weeks, followed by surgery, followed by more chemotherapy and possibly radiation. During her chemotherapy, Sarah will become extremely sick from the side effects of her medication, and this will be ongoing for several months prior to surgery. At minimum, she is looking at a year of intensive and serious medical treatment.

Sarah’s medical bills have already started coming in. Every dollar that is given to this GoFundMe will go toward medical costs, groceries, lost wages, and other living expenses while Sarah fights this. Any amount helps (not just the suggested amounts GoFundMe creates). Please give whatever you can so that, on top of everything else, Sarah doesn’t have to also worry about finances. We need her energy to go solely into fighting, healing, and resting.

Our sweet and loving friend Sarah has spent so much of her life creating community spaces for us all to experience joy and happiness. We hope reciprocity holds her fiercely through this daunting and terrifying experience.

To keep from overwhelming Sarah’s limited energy, please don’t reach out to her directly for updates. We will update the GoFundMe with any news we get about how she’s doing, along with updates to her treatment plan. Please write messages for her here! Your messages mean a great deal to her, even if she’s unable to respond right now.

This GoFundMe has been organized and will be monitored by Sarah’s care team. All donations will go directly to Sarah. We are deeply grateful for you and all the care extended to this human we adore.

At this point we are prioritizing donations to this GoFundMe, but here are other ways to get involved:

--Here is the link to Sarah's Amazon Wishlist

--You can buy and send Instacart gift cards or Willy St Coop gift cards for groceries. (Message us for an email to send the card to and/or pick info).

--Send this GoFundMe link to anyone you’ve ever danced with at Hot Summer Gays, Dyke Dive, Queer Pressure or any other dance party that Sarah has tirelessly and lovingly organized.

--Mark your calendar for a Benefit for Sarah (October 17th).

**If there is any chance you will be sharing space with Sarah in the coming months, please get your flu and COVID vaccines, and plan to mask around her. Our priority is to keep Sarah as healthy as possible as her immune system cannot handle either of these respiratory infections while she fights cancer.**

Love,

Sarah’s Team

(Direct messages will be read by Asher and Bobby)