know that Family Pride took part in an amazing competition called
the Kevin Bacon
Challenge thanks to the efforts of our Board of Directors co
chair, Ken Manford. You probably also know that Family Pride
surpassed all of our goals AND received the coveted $10,000
matching grant from Kevin Bacon. Well, lucky Ken Manford got a
congratulatory call from Kevin Bacon! Enjoy this special guest post
from Ken Manford:
I just finished talking with Kevin Bacon! Yeah – I never thought I
would say that.
Kevin called to congratulate me on my success in the charity badge
campaign for SixDegress.org and to record a conversation to use on
his website when they announce the winners of the matching grant
next week.
Kevin was so cool. He asked about Family Pride’s work and
provided an opportunity for me to talk about the important work the
organization does on behalf of families like mine. After I
finished talking about the issues we face, he mentioned that he is
excited that the badge campaign has provided an opportunity for the
public to gain awareness of issues they may not be aware of, such
as the discrimination and legal inadequacies that LGBT families
deal with in this country.
He asked how I was successful in the challenge and I told him about
the powerful networking that took place after we set a goal of
1,138 donations. We discussed how powerful it was to watch local
parenting groups engage friends, family and coworkers and create a
virtual community of citizens that took a stand for this shared
vision of family equality. He was very excited and was proud that
his original vision for the effort worked so well. He was also
impressed that nearly 50% of the donors who gave through the badge
are new donors to the organization.
We talked about how I became obsessed with watching the increase in
donations and he asked what our son thought about it. I told him
that Jackson loved seeing his picture on my badge and we made a
game out of counting the increase in donations. He laughed and
shared that he too became obsessed with the contest and was
thrilled that we became so engaged.
Thanks to everyone out there that participate in the challenge –
you should feel great about the effort and our success. And now
– Kevin Bacon is a major donor of Family Pride and knows more
about the organization!
To learn more about the Kevin Bacon Challenge, click here.