On Tuesday, Tandy Bowman, her partner Cathy Perry, and the other members and volunteers with the Hospitality Initiative of Servant Hearts will be waiting for the money to roll in. Along with thousands of other non-profits, queer and straight, Servant Hearts will be taking part in Give.mn’s annual “Give to the Max Day” one-day fundraiser.

“We’re very excited,” Bowman told TheColu.mn in an interview last week. A successful fund drive on Tuesday would cap off what Bowman described as a successful year of building alliances with other Bemidji-area groups to fight homophobia and improve access to social services for the local LGBTQ community.

Money raised on Tuesday would go towards seminars for health care workers working with the elderly and for local LGBTQ youth, Bowman said. Seminars will be modeled on a training event the organization held for local social service providers in April.

“We want to make sure those who are caring for them [LGBT community members] understand what it means to take care of people who are LGBT,” Bowman said.

Bowman also said the organization will be working with schools in Bemidji to improve anti-bullying efforts, and will continue their consulting with the Social Work program at Bemidji State University, providing students there with cultural diversity resources.