Cincinnati Couple Starts Fundraising Challenge for Local Trans Youth Charity

Cincinnati couple Carolyn and Kevin Martin awarded a $10,000 matching gift to Transform Cincy, a charity providing clothing and support for local trans and gender-nonconforming youth in memory of a trans activist killed last year in Maryland.

The Martins issued a challenge on social media to raise $10,000 to support the organization in memory of their friend Meghan Riley Lewis, who was shot to death outside her apartment in December, according to a news release.

The Cincinnati charity has now raised over 40% of the required match in the first week since the challenge was announced.

“Meghan Riley Lewis was a friend, mentor, advocate, sounding board, parent, Navy war veteran, tech professional, music lover, and ‘trans mum’ to the younger generation of trans people in her community,” said Carolyn Martin in a news release. “’Stay Sparkly’ was her tagline.”

Lewis was an outspoken activist for LGBTQ+ youth, volunteering at a housing center for LGBTQ+ people and working with trans individuals through an online support group in Baltimore.

The Martins pledged their donation to Community Shares of Greater Cincinnati, Transform Cincy’s fiscal sponsor nonprofit. The donation will help Transform Cincy build a new storage facility for donated clothing for local trans and gender-nonconforming youth and support the organization’s local programming.

“We built Transform as an empowering space to create and curate community for those at the margins, trans youth and their families/support systems,” said Tristan Vaught, Transform’s co-founder. “We are so grateful to the Martin family for their generous gift. A gift given in memory of a woman who embodied the very work we do at Transform.”

Transform serves hundreds of clients each year, providing complete wardrobes of donated clothing. According to the news release, the Transform home in Silverton also provides support groups and social programming for LGBTQ+ individuals.

To learn more about Transform Cincy, visit transformcincy.org .