Charity just got a whole lot more fabulous.
The fourth annual “It’s aDrag to Give” charitable event is back on Friday, Dec. 7 at the Long Beach Convention Center. This special one-night event brings together the community for an unforgettable night of drag to support the important work of four local Long Beach, CA nonprofits: Beacon for Him, The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach, Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, and WomenShelter of Long Beach.
Hosted by Jewels of Long Beach’s Hamburger Mary’s and community activist Ron Sylvester, this year’s performers include Tonya Martin, the right hand woman to Senator Ricardo Lara; Cory Allen, the Chief of Staff for Long Beach Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez; Tim Patton, the Long Beach Mayor’s Administrative Deputy; Isa Rached the founder of “It’s a Drag to Give” & CEO of the successful “B” Room Salon; and many more. Long Beach-based DJ Notorious Jen will be providing the music.
Guests can also enjoy cocktails and live music by Gerichoand Halle Johnson at a reception an hour before the event.
Tickets are now on sale for $10 per person. Purchase includes access to an exclusive after party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., with a special performance by Billboard Top 40 Recording Artist Ricky Rebel (as seen on tour with Britney Spears), plus a live performance by Aerial Butterflies and DJ set by Addiction. All proceeds, including all tips from this event will benefit the four charities selected this year. For more information, CLICK HERE or contact Isa Rached at Isa@itsadragtogive.com.
The Pride L.A. spoke with founder Isa Rached about this year’s event. Check it out:
Where did the idea for “It’s a Drag to Give” come from?
We (Rocio Rached (mom), Isa Rached (son) and Josie Quiroz (daughter) were looking for an idea on how to celebrate our one year anniversary of our business “The B Room barber salon” My friends and I were watching a drag show and the ideas started coming, originally we were going to do a drag show with friends at the shop but as we kept sharing our idea more and more people wanted to be involved. the first year we held the event at the ballroom of the Breakers hotel we had 200 attendees and around 20 local business helping us out, it was an amazing experience.
How do you decide who to donate the proceeds to?
Me (Isa Rached co-founder and producer of IDG) being gay we new we wanted to help the LGBTQ community and it was no brainer to choose The LGBTQ center of LB to do so, also we are an immigrant family so we also wanted to connect with a non profit that helps and represent the immigrants in Long Beach so LBIRC what’s the one, originally the event was free with a donation of a toy or jacket that’s when we reach out to the Womenshelter of LB and beacon for him which is a homeless shelter.
From what we can tell, the event features several performers that are not exactly in the “drag” community, as the name of the event might suggest. What exactly can audiences expect from “It’s a Drag to Give” ?
That’s right we choose people from different background (gay, straight, men or women) so people can expect amazing people from our community from politicians to your local bartender put in on heels on and drawing fake mustaches to raise money for a good cause.
Why is it important to have the event/ why should people attend?
There are different reasons but I think some of the most important ones are first we are helping give back in a fun way to our community two this event brings people form different groups together to celebrate diversity, inclusion, love, it brings our community together and three some of our beneficiaries are counting on us to keep their doors open to help people in need.
What should members of the LGBTQ community remember going into the holidays?
To love each other no matter their differences and the joy of giving back
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Tickets are now on sale for $10 per person. Purchase includes access to an exclusive after party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., with a special performance by Billboard Top 40 Recording Artist Ricky Rebel (as seen on tour with Britney Spears), plus a live performance by Aerial Butterflies and DJ set by Addiction. All proceeds, including all tips from this event will benefit the four charities selected this year. For more information, CLICK HERE or contact Isa Rached at Isa@itsadragtogive.com.
