The two muskequeers

While Jen Berger and Kim Coleman may not have a candy bar in the works any time soon, they certainly deserve one. Even their volunteerism reverberates with the “all for one and one for all” mentality, in addition to personalities that are as sweet as they come.

In their modest dining room, the founding members of the Equality Action Now Community Service Group explain their mission. Besides providing acts of service for the general public, their objective is to spread awareness about the GLBTQ community and dispel any fears or preconceived notions that some may have about gays being a threat to the community. Or, as Berger put it, “sexual deviants who want to destroy America by converting all of their children as young as possible.”

In truth, they’re just as much the hardworking, apple pie-eating citizens as anyone else. “We drive a minivan!” Berger boasts.

With cell phones and Web-based social networks as their weapons of choice, Berger and Coleman have made it their mission to feed the community with tolerance. Oh, and with food, too.

It started the day after last November’s election. Berger and Coleman woke to the news that Proposition 8 had passed, inequality was again reality, and the fight for equal rights was clearly not over. They did what any other First Amendment-loving American does in a time of discontent: They packed up the kids and headed to the state Capitol to protest.

After attending several rallies and receiving e-mail from JointheImpact.com, a national GLBTQ group that was organizing its own food drive at the time, they decided to put things on the service plane by forming the community-service subgroup of Equality Action Now, Sacramento’s grassroots response to Prop. 8’s passage.

Don’t be mistaken, though; these ladies are no virgins to charitable works.

“This is stuff we’ve been doing all along. We’ve always been involved in the community,” said Coleman. “Jen and I are both Girl Scout leaders for our daughters. I’ve helped out with our son’s Boy Scout troop in the past. We just did [our volunteering] quietly before, and now we’re making it public,” she said.

While it might surprise many faith-based organizations, and is certainly no surprise to others, many charitable and community-service efforts come from the gay community. But the perceived divide between the religious and faith communities and the gay community—especially over Prop. 8—needed bridging, so after some organization and a little help from Tina Reynolds, a founder of Equality Action Now, Berger and Coleman began to assess where their help was needed.

Since the post-holiday season is typically the toughest time of year for food pantries and banks, the two developed their own food drive and began collecting for various food services throughout the Sacramento area. The group will be collecting nonperishable food items at the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center in Midtown until Saturday, March 7.

But the two did not stop with food collections. After hearing the frustrating story of a local rehabilitation facility’s children’s garden being vandalized shortly into the new year, these alternative altruists put their nose back to the grindstone to make the Strategies for Change center better than ever. Relying on help from friends, their grassroots network and local businesses, Berger and Coleman’s group has collected supplies to replace the plants and flowers that have been destroyed, as well as to repair fences and other structures. The work is far from over, but with the help of the entire community, the garden will return to life.