PlanetRomeo Foundation 10th Anniversary

This year PlanetRomeo Foundation celebrates its 10th Anniversary. On November 7th, friends and colleagues from ROMEO, PlanetRomeo Foundation, members of LGBT initiatives in Holland as well as past and present Foundation Board members joined together in our office in Amsterdam to mark this important milestone.

Related: Amsterdam Pride Week

Ten Years of Funding

Over the past ten years, PlanetRomeo Foundation has funded over 200 projects in 80 different countries and donated €1 million. This has all been achieved by a small team and board that make the PRFoundation a reality. To celebrate this achievement, ROMEO hosted a party for the PlanetRomeo Foundation.

Party and Music Set up

On the evening, our staff team transformed the ROMEO office from a workspace to a party venue. Music was designed and delivered by Darling Peter, already a friend of ROMEO, since our Eurovision party in May.

Cocktail COC Limburg

The first group to arrive was Cocktail from COC Limburg. Cocktail organizes social events and a buddy friendship project for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersexual newcomers to the Netherlands. The Foundation first met with this essential initiative at the Pride Walk in Amsterdam last August. We were delighted to welcome Cocktail to our 10th anniversary to recognize the important work they do.

“We are delighted to be guests at this anniversary to celebrate the Romeo Foundation’s significant work. Many of our newcomers have had to flee their countries due to the horrible violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people. Cocktail is a project that aims to prevent social isolation and warmly welcomes our community members to Dutch society. We are so grateful for Romeo’s support to build on our buddy project in 2020; nobody deserves to feel alone.” – Hilke Linnartz Coordinator Cocktail Limburg for LGBT+ refugees

Q Kitchen

The second group to arrive was the Q-Kitchen, a bi-weekly local kitchen that provides Russian Turkish fusion food for LGBTQ+ refugees and their friends here in Amsterdam. The Foundation was first made aware of their good work in the community by our own Social Media Officer Joseph Kearney, who has been a supporter and lover of Q-Kitchen since its inception three years ago.

“We were so happy to be invited and really wanted to support and celebrate the great work of PlanetRomeo Foundation. In ten years, they have helped so many people living in really challenging situations. The party tonight is well deserved. We had no idea PRF had any plans to award us funding and want to say thank you so much to Jens and Joseph. It will go into feeding a lot more people and helping Q-Kitchen to help others into 2020. Happy birthday to the Foundation and looking forward to a brighter future.” Nata and Aydin – Q-Kitchen

The Secret Garden Foundation

The third group to join us on the evening were The Secret Garden, a Foundation of and for LGBT’s with an ethnic-cultural background, and sympathizers based in Amsterdam.

Duty Calls

On the evening, Emir, the Director of Secret Garden Foundation, was only able to attend for a short time as he received a call and had to go and help in an asylum case. Emir’s commitment and quick response to the call only goes to highlight the important and ongoing work he and his Foundation provide in Amsterdam. Though Emir had to go, the group was able to stay and celebrate with us.

“The Secret Garden Foundation was invited to celebrate ten years of the PlanetRomeo Foundation. Secret Garden has asked ten of its regulars to come to the party. They were from Algeria, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. They were well received and enjoyed the party together with the employees of ROMEO and other invited people.”

“Later, during the presentation of the program, Secret Garden received a pleasant surprise from PRF. Everyone was happy with this, and this donation will help us to continue organizing our activities. Thank you, PlanetRomeo Foundation, and continue with the beautiful work you do.” Emir Belatoui – Director of The Secret Garden Foundation.

Godwyns And Justin

Godwyns Onwuchekwa is the PlanetRomeo Foundation manager, he joined our team earlier this year relocating from England, where his partner, Justin, is still based. Justin joined Godwyns on the evening traveling all the way from Surrey in the UK. Behind every great man is another great man.

A Happy Ending

The evening concluded with much singing, dancing, and quite a lot of balloons. Although the tenth anniversary was indeed a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the last decade, the staff and crew were well aware that more work needs to be done. PlanetRomeo Foundation will move into 2020 with the same determination and dedication to help fund new emerging LGBTI projects in place where it is needed most.

A Final Word

“This party was a great opportunity for so many like minded people to come together and see the strength and power we as a community already have within us. 2020 will see us continuing to focus on projects around the world in places where the need for LGBTI support is most urgent. My sincerest thanks and gratitude to everyone who has helped the Foundation over the past ten years and to everyone who made this party possible.” – Godwyns Onwuchekwa