Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Grossman.
Hi Sara, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Shortly after losing Drew Leinonen at the Pulse Nightclub shooting, a few of us got together hoping to figure out a way to honor him. Thankfully, we didn’t have to think too hard. Drew had branded himself far before he was gone — as The Dru Project.
We decided the best way to honor him would be through continuing the work he started as a high schooler — affirming LGBTQ+ youth. We decided we wanted to really enrich the lives of queer young people while keeping his legacy alive.
And that’s exactly what we did. To date, The Dru Project has given out over $100,000 in scholarships to future leaders, over $15,000 in grants to gay-straight alliances to help them thrive, and we have also published one of the most comprehensive GSA guides in the world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have been very fortunate to have incredible support since the inception of our organization. However, one bump in the road was definitely at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our fundraising all but screeched to a halt because we traditionally relied on in-person events.
The organization was really nervous that we wouldn’t be able to reach our fundraising goals to be able to give out our annual $25,000 in scholarships to LGBTQ+ students.
So we pivoted.
We also noticed that nightlife all but screeched to a halt, so a lot of the folks who supported us and performed at our events were drag entertainers who were suddenly out of work and income.
As a board, we sat down and we hatched a plan to be able to raise funds for our scholarships, as well as help out some performers who were losing out on their livelihood. We launched a fundraising campaign on Facebook and challenged drag performers to start fundraisers for The Dru Project. They could do live performances online, sell merch, or do whatever they could to raise as much as possible — because at the end, they’d get to keep half of what they raised.
We ended up raising almost $25,000 in 4 weeks and were able to help both our queer students as well as the performers who generally help us fundraise. It was a win-win!
As you know, we’re big fans of The Dru Project. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Dru Project is proud to be just a little different than your traditional nonprofit. It is mostly run by a board of three people with very different backgrounds. For instance, our board president Shawn Chaudhry has a background in business administration and medical care. Our board VP, Brandon Wolf, worked most of his career with Starbucks in operations. And our communications director Sara Grossman has a background in digital communications for nonprofits, branding, and PR.
With our powers combined, plus with the help of our incredible development advisory board, we run a sleek and effective nonprofit. First and foremost, we are close friends who were best friends with Drew at different points of our lives, so this work is also incredibly personal.
We are proud to be able to push forward Drew’s legacy and memory with good work to aid the community he helped support while he was alive.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
One of the last things that Drew said to Brandon Wolf at Pulse before the shooting started was, “We don’t say ‘I love you’ enough.” So we end all of our meetings with, “I love you.”
The love between the core members of this board is real and when we are all together, you can absolutely see it.
Contact Info:
- Email: sara@thedruproject.org
- Website: www.thedruproject.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/thedruprojectorg
- Facebook: facebook.com/thedruproject
- Twitter: twitter.com/thedruproject
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9b5_lTvkm6gN7JRH8jaLig
Image Credits
Albert Harris
