Transgender Day of Remembrance: Even Just One Flag is Too Many

– Jake B.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) occurs each year on November 20th to honor the lives lost the prior year to transphobic violence and suicide. To help raise awareness and honor the lives lost, a somber display of Transgender Pride flags is created at Washington Square Park in Salt Lake City each year. The flags are on display for the entire week, Transgender Awareness Week, leading up to TDoR. It takes over a dozen volunteers more than seven hours to erect the display featuring more than 400 flags, each representing a documented life lost during the last 12 months to transphobic violence or suicide. Accompanying each flag is the name, age, photo, and cause of death of the individual for which the flag hangs in reverence. With the support and encouragement of my employer, Mark Miller Subaru, I was able to co-chair Project Rainbow’s Steering Committee for set-up of this year’s memorial display. Our first volunteers arrived at 8:30 AM to load supplies and materials from a storage unit into a moving truck and deliver them to the memorial site. Our volunteers stayed late working tirelessly in the 30-degree weather. A warm catered lunch, provided by Mark Miller Subaru, was a more than welcomed break allowing volunteers to rest, warm up, and continue on. Mark Miller Subaru has a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equality for all. Their website states “As a growing business, our goal is to partner with local nonprofits [such as Project Rainbow] to make our world a more just and diverse place and learn from their expertise on ways to continually align our values with our actions. From our staff to our customers and beyond, Mark Miller Subaru is PROUD to support our LGBTQ+ community through our actions, partnerships, and philanthropy. When it comes to embracing diversity, equity and inclusion, we strive to leave our MARK!” One flag was of particular importance to me personally. My best friend lost his only child, his transgender daughter, to suicide in March of this year. Her name, photo, and story hang alongside one of the flags--one of far too many flags. Only in times of greatest crises can we survive and grow as a community!

Learning is the single most important thing for students when they go to school, but when you don’t have school supplies or go to school on an empty stomach, learning can be difficult. Several staff members from Mark Miller Subaru recently volunteered at the Granite Education Foundation to stuff new backpacks with school supplies in preparation for back-to-school season. In total, 12 employees prepared 931 backpacks that were distributed to students in August for the 2022/2023 school year. Granite School District, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, operates 90 schools. With more than 64,000 students, Granite is the second largest district in Utah and is among the largest public districts in the nation. It’s also the most diverse district in the state, home to 70% of Utah’s refugee population living within district boundaries, which includes an amazing 106 languages and dialects spoken among students. Unfortunately, these are the populations that experience poor socioeconomic conditions, and 54% of district students live at or below poverty level and 3.25 of 5 students are “food insecure.” To help these families and students, the Granite Education Foundation was founded in 1988. The organization is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to improve the academic success and wellbeing of each student with a particular emphasis on supporting students at risk of not graduating. This is accomplished through the engagement of business and community partners in the support of Granite School District and the academic achievement of all its students. Students and families served by the organization are low-income and underserved populations that struggle to meet some of the basic needs for their children. When students go to school hungry or without warm clothes or don’t have access to essential school supplies, it creates learning barriers that no student should have to face for the simple act of trying to get a good education. Granite Education Foundation helps fill these gaps by providing weekend food kits and school snacks, new clothing, school supplies, and other items for basic needs that students encounter at home or at school. By working directly with teachers and student advocates, individual student needs are identified, and support is provided with dignity in mind so that students maintain privacy and avoid being labeled or picked on by other students for any reason. Together, the Foundation and teachers provide the necessary support students need to not only succeed in the classroom, but to also succeed in life. Supporting our students is exactly what the Subaru Loves Learning initiative is all about, and Mark Miller Subaru is proud to be a business partner with the Granite Education Foundation, helping them to fulfill their mission of improving academic success for students in our community! There’s a reason Subaru of America was selected as one of The Civic 50, the 50 most community-minded companies in the nation, because we care deeply about our local communities, and Mark Miller Subaru will continue to be an example of how a local business can be successful AND a good community member that gives time, money, and resources to help the causes that matter most!