By Lindsay Peyton
The festivities may be over—but Burien has not stopped showing off its Pride.
Proceeds from the second annual Burien Pride festival went towards building a scholarship fund.
Event organizer Sarah Toce said $8,000 was raised for the cause from the festival held on June 2. Scholarships will go to students in the LGBTQ+ community who “just need a little extra lift to get where they want to go,” she said.
She explained that Burien Pride always planned to give back to the local community, and the idea of building a scholarship fund came out of discussions about ways the festival could support the city.
Scholarship logistics will be developed by a newly formed committee, Toce said. The crew plans to meet monthly for a while to iron out the details.
“It’s a group of people who are dedicated to seeing this program succeed,” Toce said.
The Burien Pride website will be updated once scholarship details are finalized.
Toce said that the recent festival exceeded organizers’ expectations in a number of ways, including the amount of dollars raised for the scholarships.
“We were pleasantly surprised to make such a good amount to give out,” she said.
In addition, she said event organizers were surprised by the crowd. They expected about 3,000 to attend the party on June 2. Instead, numbers climbed to around 5,000.
Toce said that the experience was heart-warming. She later received an email from a man who grew up in Burien as a gay child, scared to come out.
“He never felt accepted,” Toce said. “Now he’s older and watching this happen. He never imagined that this would be going on in his hometown.”
She explained that the festival is a reflection of the community’s acceptance, love and support. “It was a lot of fun,” she said. “And it was very hopeful. We can make the world a better place, but we have to start in our backyard.”
Toce wants to continue to build the scholarship fund in the year ahead. Already, another fundraiser has been added to the calendar.
The first annual Queen Pin Bowling Class, a drag queen bowling tournament, is set for 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 25 at ACME Bowl, 100 Andover Park W in Tukwila. All of the proceeds will benefit the Burien Pride Scholarship Fund.
