Late Power Trip vocalist Riley Gale was very active in his local community. After Riley tragically passed away in August, the band encouraged fans to donate to Dallas Hope Charities in lieu of sending any flowers or gifts to the funeral. The response was so massive that it fast tracked the ability to build a new home for transitional LGBTQ youth in the city, and will be naming it after Gale.
The nonprofit’s CEO Evie Scrivner tells Dallas Observer “We had no idea what that would result in, but the metal, thrasher community is like the most giving, generous, connected — it’s crazy just the people that have come together,” she says. The center will be able to accommodate eight people 18 – 24 years of age.
Gale regularly donated a portion of Power Trip's earnings on the road to the center and would promote the Dallas Hope Center on his socials. The center will also be opening a library in Gale's name with books donated by his family.
Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez spoke to the Observer about Riley's passion for the center, “I definitely think that this is what he would have wanted,” Ibanez says. “It’s a couple of great ways to memorialize him.”
“I think he saw that as a big benefit to who he was, was being able to create things like that,” he says. “Not everybody can just be a part of something — whether it’s a band or whatever — and be able to raise money on a dime for people that need it, those groups of people that need that type of help.”
Riley's buddy Ryan "Hood" Williams told the Observer “Riley once said that it’s something as simple as a comic book that could potentially change the world, you know? Getting books into the hands of the youth was something that was super important to him, so to share that with that community as well is super fucking cool.”
You can donate to the Dallas Hope Center here. Learn more about the Riley gale Library on its Facebook page.
