Bi-Monthly By Ryan #29

Dear Comrades,

This 29th edition of Bi-Monthly By Ryan is an expression of gratitude for everyone who donated to my GoFundMe campaign. According to the website, I received 52 donations, and raised $6,715 in total! I feel so full of love as I consider these numbers.

In November 2024, Katelyn and I put out a call for support for me and my event, The Adoptee Open Mic. I run The Adoptee Open Mic with my own resources, which were stretched to their limits then, and are still now. I am humbled when I look at this list of names of donors and anonymous donations.

Here are the four-digit donations. There was one other person to donate this amount in total, I believe, though I am unable to confirm said information because they did so anonymously. Our mutual aid campaign helped me to continue to support myself and host my event through 2025.

There were so many precious moments along the way of the mutual aid campaign. At the outset of the campaign in November 2024, wren and I hosted a combination of our individual events. We were forward with the name of our event, “The Adoptee Open Mic @ rainboWEB,” aiming to offer a model of how adoptees and non-adoptees can hold and support each other, by way of what we are already doing.

In February 2025, Katelyn and Shannon hosted a fundraising event in support of the campaign. They called the event “Locating Our Ghosts,” which was such an apt name for the fundraiser. I was impressed by the ways in which they poured themselves into the details of the evening, creating such a fun and interesting way to raise funds by way of calling forth our communities and sharing poetry in a “fishbowl” setting.

Here are the three-digit donations. For those who did not donate anonymously, I calculated the total of your donations. Though I am obviously so curious about the anonymous donors (!!!), I respect your decision to remain private.

I had brief access to the GoFundMe account at the beginning of the campaign. I was therefore privy to some of the names of the earliest anonymous donors. I have added your names here, for the sake of being able to express my appreciation, and give you the recognition of which you all are so deserving.

I learned so much during the course of this mutual aid campaign! I was considering sharing some of these lessons here, though perhaps I will do so in a future newsletter, or perhaps not. I am reserving this space for appreciation, gratitude, and thanks.

Here are the two-digit donations. I have scrolled up and down this list so many times, thinking about how much it means to be so fully, and so deeply supported. I am truly humbled and inspired by your generosity and giving.

Love, Ryan <3

linktr.ee/ryanartes

Ongoing:

• On Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 3pm PST/6pm EST, I am participating in Words as Lifelines: BIPOC Adoptee Voices for Gaza (sign up here!). The registration page is full of information. All funds go directly to our friends in Gaza for food, shelter, and survival. <3

• The next session of The Adoptee Open Mic is on Monday, November 3, 2025 at 4pm PST/7pm EST (sign up here!). I am taking the month of October off for an intentional vacation and time for rest. After November’s event, I will be taking an indefinite break from hosting virtual gatherings. <3

• On Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 4pm PST/7pm EST, I will be participating in A Celebration of Adoptee Voices and Performance Anxiety, Sullivan Summer’s debut poetry collection. The event will be held in-person at Brooklyn Poets, and will also be livestreamed (sign up here!). Ticket sales will be split between the readers and the nonprofit Adoptees for Family Preservation. <3