If you're reading this blog you probably know what we're all about over here at FLAVNT Streetwear, but if you don't we'll give you a little rundown. We partner with gender nonconforming individuals who need help fundraising for gender confirming surgeries (phew that was a mouthful!) and give them a portion of our sales. We have successfully completed 3 partnerships thus far, raising a grand total of $4600 between those individuals in just over 12 months. Of those three transmasculine individuals we helped two achieve top surgery (one had double incision and the other had keyhole procedure), and we helped our most recent partner afford bottom surgery (phalloplasty).
This month we are doing something different at FLAVNT, and different being that we only have about 1 month to fundraise for someone, so it's all or nothing in a short amount of time. A "crash fundraiser" if you will. This individual's name is Aiden and he applied to work with us during our second round of applications last year, at the time his application was outstanding and he was in the top few applicants before we ended up choosing Caden. Aiden is a 23-year-old trans guy from Central Texas who is big into the church and also very involved in the trans community. Aiden spends his time as one of the filmographers for the documentary I am the T, and frequently goes on Mission Trips around the world. That last bit of information is crucial to our partnership with Aiden -- he was accepted to go on a prestigious mission trip during the Fall of 2016 and because of this had to move his top surgery date up 6 months.
Top surgery is expensive... and it's even more expensive when you have half a year less time to save money for it. The reason Aiden needs top surgery before his mission trip is because he will be traveling to places where it is unsafe to be visibly transgender, and for his own wellbeing the people in charge of the trip will not allow him to partake without having had and being fully recovered from top surgery.
Aiden is seeking top surgery with Dr. Raphael in Plano, TX sometime in early to mid February of 2016. He has to raise $6000+ before that time, and though he knows and we know that we can't expect to raise that amount of money in such a short amount of time, we know that we sure as heck can make a dent in it.
Our current partner, Aiden.
So if you want to help a brother out and help him reach his goal of feeling comfortable and SAFE in his own body, please head on over to our shop and grab a shirt. We have upped our donation percentage from our usual 15% to 20% for this crash fundraiser so that we can send as much money Aiden's way as possible.
We have never met a more kind and giving person, and we aren't just saying that. Aiden is constantly smiling and he lights up when he talks about the work he gets to do within his intersecting communities.
Start 2016 off right and give back: #SupportAiden!