More than 50 people gathered in Kelowna on July 7 to mark five years of Advocacy Canada, filling the room with community partners, members, volunteers, and friends who have shaped the organization’s work since it began. Pictured are some of the Advocacy Canada team members at the event.
President and Executive Director Wilbur Turner opened the evening by walking the room through Advocacy Canada’s history, from its founding in July 2021 on the traditional and unceded lands of the Syilx people and Okanagan Nation, through the campaign that helped bring national conversion therapy legislation into force, through the You Belong Project billboards that carried a message of belonging to the north and south entrances to Kelowna and drew 3 million views over 16 weeks, to last year’s milestone of becoming a registered charity. He shared the reach the organization has built along the way: rallies that drew hundreds in support of trans rights and Drag Story Time, a weekly Rainbow Men’s Coffee meetup that has welcomed more than 1,800 guests across 122 gatherings, and a 50+ Pride Network that now counts over 150 members finding connection and reducing isolation together. He also spoke to the impact behind those numbers, reading words from community members, including a mother of a trans person and a queer elder, about what belonging in this community has meant to them.
The evening also marked the official launch of the 5×5 Challenge, a ten-week peer-to-peer fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $25,000 to support the next five years of Advocacy Canada’s work, including the Okanagan Rainbow Seniors Project. Wilbur told the room the campaign is already off to a wonderful start, with $7,700 raised before the ten weeks have even properly begun.
The 5×5 Challenge runs through mid-September. The idea is straightforward: each participant sets a goal of raising $250 over the ten weeks, sharing their own fundraising page with friends, family, and colleagues. Rather than one large ask, it is built around many people making a modest ask of their own networks, and those individual campaigns add up toward the collective $25,000 goal. Anyone can join as a fundraiser, set up a personal page, and start collecting support toward their $250.
There are a few ways to get involved. People who want to fundraise can sign up through the fundraiser toolkit and set up their own page to share with their networks. Those who would rather give directly can make a donation through the campaign page at here. And for anyone who wants to support the organization’s work in an ongoing way, becoming a member is another way to have a voice in Advocacy Canada while helping fund the next five years.
Five years in, the need for connection, safety, and belonging for 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the Okanagan and beyond hasn’t gone away. Thank you to everyone who came out on July 7, and to everyone who has already stepped up to help the 5×5 Challenge get off to such a strong start.
