Mile High Comics is raising money for the staff of Club Q through a prize drawing

Mile High Comics is running a prize drawing to benefit the staff of the Denver, Colorado based Club Q, the LGBTQ+ club attacked by a gunman who killed 5 and injured 25 more people on November 20th.

Like Club Q, Mile High Comics — which advertises itself as “America’s Largest Comics Dealer” — is based out of Denver. Chuck Rozanski, the owner of Mile High has shared publicly that he's attended the club prior to the shooting. Four days after the shooting, Rozanski wrote on social media that they had met with the co-owner of Club Q, who was “genuinely worried about how his staff will make ends meet with the club closed,” adding that they’d “immediately [given] a small cash contribution out of my own pocket, and then also offered to share resources from Mile High Comics.”

The result of that conversation is a drawing to win a $1,000 shopping spree at Mile High, with two runners-up prizes of $500 credit each. (Yes, online donations count as viable entries, and yes, wins can be spent in the online store.) A $5 donation nets 6 entries into the draw. The prize drawing will take place December 17 at 1pm Mountain Standard Time. More details, and the opportunity to donate can be found here.

This isn’t the first time that Rozanski, who is gender fluid and also goes by the name Bettie Pages, has previously used Mile High Comics to support the local queer community. Rozanski's flagship Denver store has hosted all-ages drag shows for some years now, with Rozanski/Pages having themselves performed drag for a little over a decade; a 2019 article from the Colorado Sun talks about them raising money for scholarships for queer kids, as well as raising awareness for queer representation.

This prize drawing initiative, which launched on November 28, is already bearing fruit. Rozanski shared on social media a day after launch that “our Mile High Comics clients having generously donated $1,600.00 (!) during just the first 24 hours. We are rushing those initial donations by Fedex to the Board of Directors of the United Court of the Pikes Peak Empire, so that they can distribute them right away to those Club Q staff members who are in immediate need.” He continued, “Our sincere thanks and gratitude are extended to all who have already donated to this noble effort. You truly rock!”