Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 34, Ed. 1 Friday, December 20, 2002 Page: 6 of 72
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Home for the Holidays program bark on track
After sharp decline in giving last year, effort raises $23,000 to reunite
terminally ill with their families during holiday season, officials report
At a reception last week at the John Thomas Gay and Lesbian Community Center,
officials of Miss Charity America presented $16,500 for Razzle Dazzle Dallas' trav-
el assistance programs. Pictured, from left, are Razzle Dazzle Dallas vice president
Mike Brantley, pageant co-founder John Michael Gordon, winner SheGotta
Moustache (Greg Smith), pageant co-founder Rodd Grey, Home for the Holidays
chair Steve Marlin and Razzle Dazzle Dallas president Larry Lassiter.
By David Webb
5/off Reporter
Razzle Dazzle Dallas has raised its second
highest travel assistance fund for the 12-year-
old Home for the Holidays program after a
dramatic drop last year, according to organiz-
ers.
The program raised $23,000 for the 2002-
2003 travel assistance program, said Razzle
Dazzle treasurer David Cooper. Fund-raising
for the fund brought in $24,500 in 2000, he
said.
The effort represents a "great leap" from
last year when only $9,000 was raised, Cooper
said.
"Like many organizations, donations to the
Home for the Holidays program were down
last year as people were conservative with
their spending [after the Sept. 11 terrorist
tragedy and economic downturn]," Cooper
said.
Home for the Holidays consists of a series
of events that raise funds to help late-stage
HIV patients reunite with their families.
The program has consistently provided for
people in need of travel assistance over the
years, co-founder John Michael Gordon said.
"One good thing about this program is that
they have never turned anyone way," said
Gordon, who co-founded the program with
Rodd Gray, who goes by the stage name of
Patti Le Plae Safe. "They've always been able
to assist anyone who asked for it."
The program's "complete generosity" is
benefiting nine of her clients this year, said
Anne Roper of AIDS Outreach Center of Fort
Worth.
The recipients include a family of three that
has not been home in nirte years, and a woman
who nearly died this year going home to see
her family, Roper said.
"Basically, you see a lot of tears, and people
saying, "I can't believe people are so gener-
ous," Roper said. "I've never seen anything be
so beneficial. It is such a vital service for these
people."
Most of this year's funds for the program
came from Miss Charity America, a pageant
benefiting the travel assistance program,
which brought in $16,500. An additional $6,500
was raised at Buddies, DeWayne's Oasis and
Village Station.
Gordon said that organizers spend several
months organizing the events.
The annual pageant is held at the Round-
Up Saloon. Shegotta Moustache won the title
of Miss Charity America at this year's event,
which attracted 50 Texas entertainers.
Gordon said that the program provides a
unique service.
"It fulfills a need that doesn't exist as far as
the other agencies are concerned," said
Gordon, the former Mr. Gay USA 1999. "As far
as we know, this is the only [travel] program
for HIV-positive people in the country."
Gordon noted that there is another agency
serving terminaily-ill people similarly, but it is
not specific to HIV.
"Most people are obviously very apprecia-
tive [that] someone is out there allowing them
to spend Christmas with their family or bring-
ing a family member in," Gordon said. "They
otherwise would have no means."
The program has ticketed 30 people so far,
Cooper said. Travel assistance is also provided
at other times during the year when there is an
emergency need, he said.
"We send people as close as Houston and
as far away as Alaska and Africa," Gordon
said.
Some of the services provided by the pro-
gram include uniting families worldwide,
bringing caregivers to Dallas, sending people
home in air ambulances to die in hospice care
in their home cities, providing travel for
remains of clients for burial in their home cities
and enabling loved ones to attend funerals.
Razzle Dazzle works with HIV service
providers to inform people with HIV about the
service. Financial disclosures and physician
statements must accompany applications to
determine the need.
Gordon said that the program serves peo-
ple with HIV, regardless of their sexual orien-
tation.
"It's pretty diverse as far as the people who
make use of the program," he said. T
Katy project
includes tribute
to Meyerson
Symphony center namesake's
son recalled as AIDS research
advocate, Perot's liaison to gays
By David Webb
Staff Reporter
Planned improvements to the Katy Trail in
2003 include a memorial to David Nathan
Meyerson, an AIDS research advocate who
served as Ross Perot's liaison to the gav and
lesbian community during the Dallas tycoon's A „ , . , . . . . , , . .
failed bid for U S President in 1997 An artlst s rendering depicts a proposed plaza scheduled for construction next year
The memorial will be constructed in a new at Knox Street entrance of the Katy Trail. The Morton H. Meyerson family is pro-
plaza at the Knox Street entrance to the Katy viding a $250,000 gift to fund the plaza, which would be named for David Nathan
See MEYERSON on PAGE 10 Meyerson. The Dallas Park and Recreation Board still must approve the project.
6 DECEMBER 20, 2002 DALLAS VOICE
Bars provide
holiday cheer
for pupils at
Sam Houston
By Tom Grego
Staff Reporter
Almost four hundred Oak Lawn children
enjoyed a huge Christmas party this week,
thanks to a relationship that has sprung up
over the years between one of Dallas' poorest
schools and the owners of local gay business-
es.
A partnership between Caven Enterprises
and Sam Houston Elementary began very qui-
etly over 15 years ago with a spaghetti dinner
held for the PTA. It grew to include holiday
events for the children through out the school
See SAM HOUSTON on PAGE 13
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 34, Ed. 1 Friday, December 20, 2002, newspaper, December 20, 2002; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616282/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.