Just days after an Aurora group announced that it would be forced to cancel its Pride Parade event due to soaring costs, the parade is back on after organizers raised nearly $20,000 in a single day.
On Tuesday, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin announced that a fundraising effort would be launched to save the Pride Parade, which was held for the first time in 2018. The fundraiser was undertaken after parade organizers said that they would be on the hook for security and other costs related to the event under a new ordinance passed by the Aurora City Council.
The cost of the parade was set to more than quadruple over last year’s costs, but thanks to a spirited fundraising effort, nearly $20,000 was raised on a GoFundMe page to ensure that the parade would happen.
The group, Indivisible Aurora, set a goal of $18,000 to help offset the costs of police protection, fire and emergency workers, street crews, barricades, and other costs, and hit that goal within a matter of hours.
The city of Aurora also made a grant of $3,000, and the group Downtown Aurora pitched in with $1,500, according to the Daily Herald.
Last year’s event drew more than 10,000 people, according to officials.
