JMG Post Generates $100K Donation To Ali Forney Center For Homeless LGBT Kids

Just about the time I was perusing the below Wall Street Journal report, one of its subjects, Frank Selvaggi, emailed me on Facebook to reveal that he and his partner were initially inspired by the Thanksgiving Day guest post made here on JMG by Ali Forney Center executive director Carl Siciliano.

It just "clicked" for Frank Selvaggi and Bill Shea when they decided to make a gift of $100,000 to the Ali Forney Center, a New York-based organization that provides shelter and social services to homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. A few Sundays ago, the television news program "60 Minutes" aired a segment on homeless children in Florida who are living in cars with their families. Messrs. Selvaggi and Shea watched the program."Devastating," says Mr. Selvaggi of the segment. "It just sort of clicked. We need to do something."

And so the couple, longtime LGBT advocates, made a gift close to home and to their hearts. They had some familiarity with the Ali Forney Center and knew that there was a need for more services to support the homeless LGBT youth in New York. Their gift has kicked off a $1 million campaign to raise money to increase the number of beds available to keep homeless LGBT teenagers off the streets at night.

Please excuse me while I spend the remainder of the day levitating over my desk. My grinchy heart just might bust wide open.

RELATED: As noted in the above-linked WSJ report, the generosity of Mssrs. Selvaggi and Shea has launched its own Home For The Holidays fundraising campaign. Please visit the AFC site for daily profiles of their young LGBT clientele. It's cold and wet on the streets of NYC today and better weather is many months away.