Home Lifestyle Sandhills PRIDE announces sponsors, PRIDE Month activities

Sandhills PRIDE announces sponsors, PRIDE Month activities

PINEHURST — Sandhills PRIDE is proud and grateful to announce the largest corporate sponsorship in support of their programs and events they have received since they started their work in the Sandhills.

Realty World~The Nikki Bowman Team and Manifest Boutique have partnered together to become the 2022 Annual PRIDE Sponsors for Sandhills PRIDE. This sponsorship will support extended programming and events throughout PRIDE Month and the rest of the year for the LGBTQ+ community and allies in the Sandhills.

“I am beyond thrilled and deeply humbled to be able to share this amazing news,” says Lauren Mathers, executive director of Sandhills PRIDE. “Nikki Bowman has always been a generous ally and strong voice for our community. We are so blessed to have business leaders like her and Jessica Rowan, and their wonderful teams, supporting the expansion of our programs and partnerships with their words and their deeds! Their commitment speaks volumes in support of the work we are doing to make equality for all a cornerstone of this community.”

After nearly two years of successfully continuing their support and discussion groups, as well as many of their events, by zoom due to COVID, Sandhills PRIDE started expanding in person events and activities again this past winter/spring (though some groups continue to meet by zoom for privacy reasons). The PRIDE Youth Night has doubled in size since it started up again in March and last month expanded to two hours instead of one to give kids more time together in safe space. As well, a private discussion group, held by and for trans and nonbinary individuals, has relaunched this month and a support and discussion group for parents of LGBTQ+ youth will be starting up again in late summer.

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Most recently, the first in-person Scholarship Reception took place at The Country Club of Whispering Pines on May 15. At that event, Nikki Bowman, owner of both Realty World and Manifest Boutique, along with teammate Jessica Rowan, presented one of the scholarship awards and spoke about the decision to become the 2022 PRIDE Sponsors.

“The welfare of the people in the Sandhills, especially our children, has always been at the forefront of our business and how we approach everything we do. We see the challenges that so many LGBTQ+ friends and family face every day, especially our kids in their schools,” she
said in her address to the reception attendees. “When my teammate, Jessica Rowan, and I saw the opportunity to help make a significant difference in the work that Sandhills PRIDE is doing to provide more safe spaces and equality, we knew we wanted to make the commitment of being the 2022 Annual PRIDE Sponsors.”

With this support, Sandhills PRIDE has been able to expand its events, activities, and partnerships for June’s Pride Month and is in the planning stages for additional partnerships and collaborations for programs and activities throughout the rest of this year.

“Our goal is always to provide more — more advocacy, more support, more activities together, and more safe spaces for all of the LGBTQ+ community and our allies,” said Lauren Mathers. “This generous sponsorship is helping us do that!”
For a schedule of events for Pride Month, go to: www.sandhillspride.org/events.