ORLANDO | Lucky’s Market, located at 11750 E Colonial Dr, announced Orlando Youth Alliance (OYA) as one of its three nonprofit partners participating in Bags for Change, a quarterly fundraiser hosted by the supermarket chain. Lucky’s Bags for Change program will help raise funds for OYA from Feb. 3 to May 25.
OYA is a nonprofit local organization providing LGBTQ youth a safe place and support group to discuss any issues or concerns in their lives and includes members from ages 13 to 24.
“Anyone who comes in [to Lucky’s Market] and uses a reusable bag will be given a wooden dime, which they can put in the wheel to vote for OYA,” says Michael Slaymaker, OYA’s CEO.
At the end of the quarter, Lucky’s Market will double the funds raised by customers and those proceeds will be given to OYA.
Lucky’s Market’s Colonial Dr. location has been participating in Bags for Change since 2017. Each quarter, Lucky’s encourages community members to vote for three out of five local nonprofits with the wooden dimes they are rewarded with for using reusable bags.
Slaymaker says the funds raised from Bags of Change will be used for the organization’s weekly meetings, volunteer training and scholarships for the youth members in the program. For more than eight years, OYA has awarded scholarships to the area’s LGBTQ youth.
In addition to the support group and activities, OYA provides LGBT History & Cultural classes, scholarships, career exploration and mental health referrals. OYA’s weekly meetings are held every Tuesday from 6:15-7:15 p.m. at The LGBT+ Center of Central Florida in Orlando.
For more information, visit OrlandoYouthAlliance.org.
