QC Affirming Diversity

Join QCAD for a Murder Mystery

August 25, 2006 - Quad Citians Affirming Diversity announced today its plans for its 2006 fall fundraiser, a Quad Cities premiere screening of the newly released “Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery.”  The film stars Chad Allen as cinema’s first gay detective and is based on the Donald Stracheymystery series created by author Richard Stevenson. The event will held on Saturday,

October 21 at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the direct support services QCAD provides to gay and questioning
youth as well as the education outreach services to the community.  “QCAD receives no taxpayer
support and depends entirely on the success of our fund raising events, membership drives and grant
applications,” said Joyce Wiley, QCAD founder.  “In short, we depend entirely on the support of those who share our belief that the worth of a person and his or her value to society is unrelated to sexual
orientation.”

Founded in 1990, QCAD operates a “drop-in” resource center in Rock Island and organizes social
activities for gay and questioning teens in order to respond to the sense of alienation felt by many of
these young people.  QCAD is the only Quad Cities-based organization providing such support services to gay teenagers, who suffer from alarmingly higher rates of isolation and even suicide than other teenagers.  “There is no doubt that QCAD is literally saving lives,” said Mike Hetrick, chairman of the QCAD Board of Directors.  “And, we need community support to continue this important work,” Hetrick added.

The benefit on October 21 will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Figge Art Museum in downtown
Davenport at 225 West Second Street.  Hearty appetizers prepared by Restaurant 225 will be served and an “open bar” service will be available until 8 p.m. when the film will be shown in the museum theater.
 
Reservations can be made by contacting QCAD at 309/786-2580.  The cost of tickets is $60.
The event is made possible by the generous support of local sponsors: Alcoa, the Riverboat
Development Authority and Well Fargo Bank.  Also, QCAD acknowledged the invaluable support of media sponsors: here!tv, Mediacom and the River Cities Reader.  “Our QCAD benefit events are impossible without the support of corporations and agencies that share our commitment to a community that embraces and celebrates diversity,” Hetrick said.  “On behalf of everyone associated with QCAD – especially the young people we serve – I thank our sponsors for their support.”
QCAD aims to bring gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight people together to learn from each other and to create an affirming community.