GSA Club Members Give, And Receive Help

POUGHKEEPSIE – Poughkeepsie High School’s Genders and Sexualities Alliance Club (GSA) members gave help and received some at a meeting on December 8th.

GSA received a check for $1,000 to advance club goals from Prime Print Shop in Poughkeepsie and donated clothing from the club’s first annual Trans Day of Remembrance clothing drive to the Trans Closet of the Hudson Valley.

“I’m very happy with the outcome of the clothing drive. It was our first one and I was surprised to see how many bags of clothes we had,” said Danasha, senior and co-president of GSA who chose to use only her first name.

Junior Gianna Griffin added, “With the money, we’ll be able to do bigger projects for us and the school. I hope with the money we could contribute more.”

“I’m extremely excited for this club,” shared Tasha Benbow-Harris, school psychologist, who is in her second year as club adviser. “It did take a bit of a downturn during COVID and I got the opportunity to jump on board. I call it GSA 2.0 because we want to be visible so having outside organizations come to support us through funding or collaborations, overwhelms me. “The kids are always ready to do whatever we need to do. I‘m very proud of this group.”

Poughkeepsie’s GSA, which has some 16 members, is hoping to have its second annual Love is Love ice cream social event in the future. In addition, members will continue preparing for Pride Week at the school, which will take place during World Pride Month in June.

Janiyah Elias is the vice president of the club and was happy the club made an impact in the community with the clothing drive. “I would like to expand more into the community and have people be aware of our community. That would be a nice goal to have,” she said.

“I enjoy being a member and it’s why I ran for vice president this year. I love this club. It’s a very safe place and a great place and outlet.”