november 2012 - AIDS Emergency Fund

NOVEMBER 2012
AIDS EMERGENCY FUND | QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
HeartToHeart
Martha Wash to headline
AEF Gala December 1
Legendary dance diva Martha
Wash will headline AIDS Emergency Fund’s 30th Anniversary
Gala on December 1. Ms. Wash
began her singing career as one
of the “Two Tons O’ Fun” who
sang backup for Sylvester in
the late 70s and early 80s. She
went on to record several huge
dance anthems, including “It’s
Raining Men” and “Everybody,
Everybody.” Martha and Sylvester performed at several of
the earliest AIDS fundraising
events in the Castro. When
Sylvester died of AIDS in 1988,
he bequeathed his future recording royalties to AEF and Project
Open Hand. AEF will honor
Sylvester posthumously with a
Lifetime Achievement Award to
be shared with Ms. Wash and
accepted by her.
The circus-themed event,
“Under the Big Top” will be
held in a huge, clear tent in
the heart of the National AIDS
Memorial Grove in Golden Gate
Park on the night of World AIDS
Day. The Grove’s annual event
“Light in the Grove” will be held
Friday evening, November 30.
Because the tent for that event
will remain in place throughout
the World AIDS Day weekend,
the Grove has offered its use to
AEF without charge. AEF and
the Grove will be sharing the
same sound, light, and event
rental contractors which will
substantially reduce costs to
both agencies.
Presented by Wells Fargo and
Levi Strauss & Co., the cocktail
party, seated dinner and show will
include awards to Mayor Ed Lee, on
behalf of the City of San Francisco
and to Levi Strauss & Co.’s AIDS Action
Group. Both award recipients have
been close partners with AEF for its
entire 30 years of service. The program
will be followed by a performance by
Ms. Wash and a disco-era dance party
complete with mirror balls and late 70s
and 80s dance music.
The event marks the conclusion of AEF’s
year-long 30th Anniversary campaign
designed to raise an additional $300,000 for
AEF’s client services. Due to strong support
from corporate and individual patrons and
the space limitations of the tent, only about
100 seats remain unsold, at $300 each (or a
pair at $500 each). Tickets: www.aef-sf.org.
Please join us for a once-in-a-lifetime evening!
Donna Sachet’s Songs of the
Season 20 Years Later...
Songs of the Season began
humbly in 1993 hosted by Lily’s
on Market Street and Kimo’s on
Polk Street and co-starring my
singing Mr. Gay San Francisco,
Scott Stewart, and a lively cast
of drag queens. From 1994-1996,
partnered with my talented
singing Emperor Brian Benamati, we added Charpe’s, The
Galleon, The Mint, Marlena’s,
Company, The Cinch, Eichelberger’s, Daddy’s, The Edge, and
The Wooden Horse. Philip Turner
— a skilled producer of many
events — saw great potential,
but he encouraged me to rein in
this scattered event to a single
location. Philip also volunteered
to be the first sponsor.
So in 1997, Songs of the Season moved to the Transmission
Theatre for two nights, and Bob
Ross, Paul Scudder, Marlena,
A spec
comment ial
ary b
Donna Sa y
chet
Ken Turner, Don McMartin and
Eric Weinmann joined Philip
Turner as our first sponsors.
Even with such gracious support,
my dreams of generating huge
sums for AIDS Emergency Fund
faded after expenses mounted.
Committed to Songs of the
Season, in 1998 it was back to
the drawing board but only if
it could generate significant
money for the cause. We made
the International Ballroom (now
the Conservatory of Music) our
home for 1998-1999 and added
new sponsors and professional
production assistance from Bob
Brunson and Richard Sablatura.
We were finally raising thousands of dollars for AEF.
Much to my astonishment,
in 2000 Trevor Logan and The
Plush Room in the York Hotel
agreed to host Songs of the
Season. Everything took on a
new level of professionalism,
including Sharon McNight’s first
performance with us, the first
Barefoot Champagne reception,
and the first Donna Sachet
snow globe collectables. We
raised over $16,000 that year
and again in 2001.
Songs of the Season celebrated its ten-year anniversary
in 2002 at a brand new location
for a single night — Ruby Skye
on Mason Street, and raised
over $20,000 for AEF.
After 10 years, burnout,
exhaustion, and personal challenges in the lives of many of the
key players threatened to end
the tradition. But fortunately
Richard Sablatura stepped in to
produce the event with tireless
energy and heartfelt commitment. In 2003, we returned to
The Plush Room with a sold-out
show, added a second night in
2004 and 2005, and a third night
in 2006 and 2007.
In 2008, the long rumored
closing of The Plush Room
became a reality, but Robert
Kotonly and Rory Paull welcomed us to the brand new
Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko.
We quickly settled into The
Rrazz Room and continued the
tradition of Lu Conrad presents
Opening Night, while adding
additional instruments to our
band and welcoming Abigail,
Tickets
songsofth
eseason.n
et
Kim Kuzma, Paula West, Val
Diamond and others to our cast.
Loyal and new sponsors and an
ever enthusiastic audience over
three nights pushed revenue up
to $30,000 in 2009 and nearly
$50,000 in 2010 and 2011.
This year, we welcome you
to four nights of Songs of the
Season with a cast of returning favorites and a few brand
new guests, the largest
sponsor list ever,
and a commemorative CD available
in the lobby. Please
join us, because, as
they say:
“The holidays don’t
begin until you’ve
seen Donna Sachet’s
Songs of the Season!”
Our Goal Cynthia Hester, Board President
is Within
Reach
In January 2012,
AEF announced an ambitious
30th Anniversary Campaign to
raise an additional $300,000 in
new donations for client services.
Our goal is in sight, and we have
just a few more weeks to cross
the threshold to success.
Our “Parties with a Purpose!”
strategy has been a big hit. The
two dozen hosts, who opened
their home or created events
for their friends, introduced AEF
to many new donors
and raised
new funds to help AEF provide
emergency financial assistance
to low-income people disabled
by HIV/AIDS. In addition, the
community is embracing our
30th Anniversary Gala on World
AIDS Day, December 1st, in the
National AIDS Memorial Grove.
We are grateful to two major
donors who have established
matching grants to help AEF
leverage the generosity of our
donors to reach our $300,000
Welcoming our new
Client Services Coordinator
Jeff Jones
Joining the team here at AIDS Emergency Fund
is a dream come true. Over the last 20 years,
I’ve enjoyed various jobs that have allowed me
to help and teach people. I began working in
HIV/AIDS services 12 years ago. At the STOP
AIDS Project, I managed programs for men
living with HIV/AIDS, and this first experience really sparked my passion for doing this
work. Next I lived in Honolulu and worked for
an ASO called Life Foundation, managing
programs for PLWHA and an HIV testing
and counseling intervention. The most fun
part of that job was getting to do HIV rapid
testing and outreach on beaches around
Honolulu at least once a week! Later I
lived in Sydney, Australia and worked for
the AIDS Council of New South Wales.
It was an amazing experience, but after
5 years my heart brought me back to
my home, San Francisco.
I’m thrilled and very proud to be the
newest staff member at such a wonderful organization. My new role here
providing client services is allowing
me to continue doing rewarding and
important work with a community
I care about deeply. I look forward
to meeting everyone and learning
a lot. Please feel free to email me
at jeffj@aef-sf.org or calling 415558-6999 x226 if I can assist you
in any way.
Our Com
Never Sto munity
ps Giving
SEPTEMBER 9
Garden Tour Party with a Purpose!
A huge thank you to AEF founder Rick Booth for
your terrific Garden Tour Party and lunch. Your
green thumb helped raise over $2100. We thank you
for your support on behalf of our clients!
SEPTEMBER 22
BigMuscle.com Meet and Greet
BigMuscle.com and BigMuscleBears.com founders Bill Sanderson and Andy Wysocki hosted their
8th Annual Meet and Greet at the DNA Lounge
over Folsom Weekend. 100% of all ticket proceeds
is donated to AEF, and this year’s event raised a
whopping $12,000!
goal. The Bob Ross Foundation will match any
gift up to $1,000 from
first-time donors or those
returning as donors after a threeyear absence or longer. Ambassador James C. Hormel and Michael
P. Nguyen will also match new
gifts of $1,000 or more. Both
challenge grants expire at the
end of November, so time is of the
essence. Please take a moment
now to make a gift to AEF and
help us earn these generous
matching funds.
In a unique gesture, Wells
Fargo and Levi Strauss & Co.
have agreed to co-present our
30th Anniversary Gala. Both
companies have long histories of
support for AEF. Their underwriting of the Gala means that 100%
of all ticket sales will go directly
to our clients. Thank you, Levi
Strauss & Co. and Wells Fargo!
It is not too late to become a
30th Anniversary Gala patron
at the $1,000 or $2,500 level. In
addition, a very limited number
of Gala tickets at $300 each (or
a pair at $500 each) are available
at press time.
Over 30 years, our work has
been supported by you, our
donors, who know how vital
emergency financial assistance
is to many in San Francisco battling HIV/AIDS. With your help,
we keep the rent paid, the utilities on, and other basic needs
met. Our clients express their
gratitude to AEF every single
day, and we always remember
our donors who help make it all
possible. I hope to see you in the
National AIDS Memorial Grove
on World AIDS Day.
LeatherWalk Raises $17,000!
One bright September morning, a hot crowd of
Leather Daddies and Mommas,
Empresses and Sisters, Bare
Chest Men and Dykes on Bikes,
Flaggers and Survivors gathered
for LeatherWalk 2012, the official Leather Week Kickoff. Our
beloved Mama Sandy Reinhardt
once again produced an incredible roving party of family, friends
and supporters to benefit AEF
& BCEF. Together we raised an
astounding $17,000! The event
began at 440 Castro, where for
the first time teams competed
to raise the most money for
people living with HIV/AIDS and
breast cancer.
Shout-out to the top fundraisers Mama’s Family, Haus of
Starfish, David Wichman and
to our generous Event Sponsor Folsom Street Events. A
very special thanks to the many
people who make LeatherWalk
possible each year: Sgt. Chuck
Limbert of the SFPD who serves
and protects, Senator Mark Leno
who represents us grandly, Daddy
Mike Floyd who drives the entertainment truck, Randy Schiller
Productions whose generosity
is endless, Sister Pat N Leather
for her blessings, Troy Brunet for
being a blessing, our talented
entertainers Brian Kent and
Raquela, and the handsome Bare
Chest Calendar Men whose beer
bust is always the perfect capper to the parade. None of this
would be possible without our
favorite Leather watering holes:
440 Castro, Powerhouse, KOK Bar
and BeatBox. LeatherWalk is an
amazing event that celebrates
pride, visibility and giving without
any commercialism or agenda.
Sometimes, all we need is Family!
Save the date: LeatherWalk
2013, Sunday September 22!
www.leatherwalk.org
SEPTEMBER 22
SEPTEMBER 22
Folsom Street Fair Kickoff
Tanathon
This was a fantastic Party with a Purpose! on
the bay. Thanks to Juliana Cochnar and Ernesto
Roy for hosting this Rock the Boat in Red party
on the boathouse of Tyson Graham. They rocked
the boat to a tune of over $2000. Keep on rocking!
Loren Brown and Joseph Candeloro hosted a hot
and sexy Party with a Purpose! at their beautiful
house. Their annual Folsom Street Fair Kickoff
party was a huge success raising $3000! Thanks to
you both for opening up your home to us!
Our friends at Tan Bella hosted their second
annual fundraiser for AEF and turned it into a
Party with a Purpose! They donated over $1300
to us on a one-day fundraising event. 25% of sales
for the day went back to our clients in need. Huge
shout-out to Gregory Murray for giving back to the
community! We love you!
Rock the Boat in Red
SEPTEMBER 23
REAL BAD
AEF was a Beneficiary of REAL BAD the Official
Closing Party to SF Leather Week. Over 3,000
people danced the night away. AEF received
$7,500 from this hot and sexy event. Thanks to
our late night crew of volunteers who helped out
into the wee hours.
SEPTEMBER 27
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Frank Martinez,
Volunteer Manager
From all of us at AIDS Emergency Fund, Thank You! This has
been a busy summer and a lot of
you took time out of your personal
lives to volunteer for events on
our behalf. Thanks again from
the bottom of our AEF hearts!
Special thanks to all our office
volunteers who did a fantastic
job all year helping prepare
this Heart to Heart Newsletter
and other mailings. Big hugs
and thanks to Craig Anderson,
Wayne West, RJ Sloan, Lupe
Martinez, Verenisse Bejarano,
Isaac Dominguez, William Langley, Claire Eugenia Gerendt, Jr.,
Anna Brodski, Colby Michaels,
Timm Dobbins, Julia Avrimides,
Anthony Moore, Ivan Holum,
Sedrick Vanisi, Doug Laine,
Russell Hong, and Ren Phoenix.
We are excited to be putting
together our 30th Anniversary
Gala and We Need You! Please
consider signing up for a shift or
two. You can contact me at 415558-6999 ext 225 or send me an
email at frank.martinez@aef-sf.
org. You can sign up for the Gala
shifts and all other volunteer
opportunities at emergencyfund.
volunteerhub.com.
Party with a
Purpose!
Alex Seber
AIDS Emergency Fund was
brought to my attention through
my good friend, Randy Marcotte,
who is on the AEF board. He
mentioned how Bay Area companies were hosting Parties with a
Purpose! and raising money for
AEF. We both agreed that Google
was in a unique position given
its strong SF presence.
OCTOBER 7
Castro Street Fair
Castro Street Fair was held on a beautiful October
Sunday in the Castro. We had over 30 volunteers
helping out to make this event successful and fun!
OCTOBER 10
San Francisco Giants Fundraiser
Gary Virginia hosted a Giants Fundraiser for AEF
at the Edge! Thank you Gary for all that you do for
us and the community! You are our hero!
OCTOBER 11—14
Sundance Stompede Hoedown
SF’s Country Western Dance Week was a blast!
The line dancing and parties all week were great!
Thanks to our volunteers and to Sundance for
volunteering at the big HoeDown dance party
and auction. The Stompede Hoedown was a great
success, and AEF is grateful to be a beneficiary
of this event.
Lupe Martinez,
Why I volunteer at AEF
Volunteering has been a large
part of my life. I started in high
school, volunteering at the Chamber of Commerce for a campaign
to have a UC campus built in the
Central Valley. It gave me a sense
of pride then, and volunteering
still gives me a sense of pride to
this very day. When I was given
an opportunity to participate in
PROJECT 20, a program to help
me pay my parking tickets, I was
eager to help myself and my community. The process was simple,
and I was given three months to
Having a gay younger brother,
I felt like this would be a great
opportunity to educate myself,
and the larger community at
Google. My coworkers were
very supportive in putting the
event together. With their help
and the support of AEF, we were
able to have a highly successful
event. We also decided to dedicate the event to the memory of
complete my community service.
AIDS Emergency Fund is a great
agency which has been doing
great service in our community
for 30 years. I felt happy and
privileged to volunteer at AEF. I
have worked both in their office
and at events, including Folsom
and LeatherWalk.
I am looking forward to being
an integral part of the AEF’s 30th
Anniversary celebration. Even
though my hours will be complete
by that time, I have found pride
and satisfaction volunteering
for this fun, vital agency. Please
consider AEF if you need Project
20 hours, and as a great place
Aaron Lucas who was part of our
Google family.
In all we raised over $7,000!
The event not only raised money,
but also helped educate my colleagues about the devastating
impact of HIV/AIDS in our community. I look forward to helping
them with future events.
OCTOBER 14
Garden BBQ,
Bare Chest Calendar Men
Thank you Jerry Roberts, John Dopp and David
Lumadae for hosting a Party with a Purpose!
Your fantastic party in the Castro featuring the
Bare Chest Calendar Men helped raised $4100
for AEF’s clients.
Thank you, Ducal Court!
Ducal Court Grand Duke Alan and Grand Duchess
Kylie Minono presented our agency with a $1000
check from their fundraising efforts. Thank you,
Duke and Duchess and the Ducal Court!
Run, Bill, Run!
Bill McCarty has raised $3695 to date on behalf
of AIDS Emergency Fund. Bill continues his relentless fundraising and running. Special thanks to all
his friends, sponsors and supporters. Supporting
Bill as he raises money for
us is an amazing experience.
We are very grateful to him
for the funds and support.
We love you!
MANY THANKS
We are grateful to many others in our community
who raise money on behalf of our clients, including: The Edge, our basket contest this October
was a lot of fun, special thanks to our volunteers
Mayra Lopez, Sedrick Vanisi, Isaias Camacho,
Eric Alberty and Don Mccabe; Harley Maxwell’s
Sunday Buzz at Powerhouse for your support from
the haircuts you do on site; thanks to our friends
and supporters at the Tyco Conference, Tanathaon,
Beatbox, Brian Kent, Joshua Ryan, Tober Devore,
Michele Myers; and an all around thank you to
everyone who has been donating and supporting
our 30th Anniversary Gala.
to volunteer in general. They
participate in many of the city’s
fun events, and they know how
to have fun while still working
hard. My days of volunteering at
AEF went by fast and were full
of fun, caring people.
AIDS EM
ERGE
NCY
FUND
HeartToHeart
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
PERMIT #1504
AIDS EMERGENCY FUND
Providing emergency financial assistance to people fighting HIV/AIDS
12 Grace Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, California 94103
www.aef-sf.org
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
MARTHA
WASH
LIVE!
DECEMBER 1,
2012
Sa
These Da ve
tes
11.25 —
28.12
Donna S
achet’s
20th A
Songs onnual
f the
Season
12.01.12
AnniversAEF 30th
ary Gala
12
Christm .24.12
as Eve
Dinner
01.20
AEF Dan .13
Queen T cing
-Dance
The Family Photo Album 1982 — 2012
Mike Smith, Executive Director
In preparation for a video presentation at AEF’s 30th
Anniversary Gala on December 1, I spent most of the
past weekend combing through photos from AEF’s past.
The early years (1982 to, say, 1999) have been neatly
catalogued in photo albums that fill two file cabinets.
Some of the faces I know personally, others I’ve come
to know over the last ten years as characters in stories
told by others. Classic fundraising events of the 80s and
90s like Men Behind Bars (no, not prisoners, bartenders!), tricycle races on Castro Street, and Sylvester singing at the Elephant Walk (now Harvey’s). A hat themed
dinner, the first editions of the Bare Chest Calendar
(with pubic hair showing, E gads!). Art Tomaszewski’s
first Leather Walk, when there were actually a dozen
leather bars South of Market! Sharon McNight belting
out tunes on AEF’s Pride Parade floats. Mr. Marcus,
Bob Ross and Alan Selby (the original “Mr. S” of Mr. S
Leather) counting pennies.
Finished with the binders, I moved on to the trays of
CDs that capture AEF’s family until about 2008. These
are years I know better, because the family included
me by then. Penny drives in Yerba Buena Park. Parker
Guest House garden Parties, a parade float that was a
giant piggy bank. Fortune Tellers’ Balls, and a massive
Castro County Fair.
Next comes the present, 2008 to now. For these I
went to AEF’s server to look at images that exist only
as pixels in the ether. Familiar faces like Lenny Broberg
still auctioning off anything that moves to raise money
for our clients, Bare Chest Calendar men who now
think nothing of raising $150,000 a year for us. But also
new events like boat cruises and parties at Google that
introduce us to hundreds of new donors.
Still with me? Thanks for staying for the wander
down memory lane. If you are reading this newsletter,
somewhere along this timeline you joined our family.
On December 1, we’ll be having a huge family reunion.
It will be a night to look back at how we helped make
the darkest days brighter. A night to celebrate how far
we’ve come. A night to recommit to being there until a
cure is found.
Come. Join our AEF family’s 30th reunion!
Christmas Eve Dinner: 25,000 Meals and Counting
In 1988, Lynne Winslow,
George Macaluso, Vinnie Russell, Randy Schiller and a group
of concerned and dedicated
friends put together the first
AIDS Emergency Fund Christmas Eve Dinner. At that time,
AIDS was known as ARC and
those stricken with the disease,
the majority being gay men,
were being evicted from their
homes, fired
from their jobs, disowned by
family and friends, banished
from spending the holidays
with loved ones and left with
nowhere to go. So AEF stepped
up to the plate. Twenty-five
years later, the disease is still
prevalent and this festive event
is still being held for needy
people in our community.
For many, this event is their
holiday, a time for turkey dinner with all the trimmings, a
chance to meet Santa Claus
and be entertained by some of
San Francisco’s most popular
performers, many of whom
have been performing at the
event for the entire twenty-five
years. The core team of Neil
Figurelli, Cindy Roberts, Terry
Irvin, Randy Schiller, Gavin
Middleton, Glennon Sutter,
and Stanley Wong, along with
over 200 volunteers, will be
returning to the Green Room
at The San Francisco War
Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 401
Van Ness Avenue on
Christmas Eve Day, Monday, December 24, 2012.
Our volunteers come
from all walks of life and
many have been volunteering since its inception.
There are even couples
who first met at the event
and are still together, as
well as families who volunteered when the children
were young and now reunite
to volunteer as adults. Some
people fly cross-country to
continue their volunteer service! Please join us this year
for some Holiday Cheer.
AEF FAMILY
30 YEARS OF LOVE
Who’s Who
at A EF
FOUNDERS
Frederick H. Boot
h, Jr.
Walter Mellon
BOARD PRESIDEN
T
Cynthia Hester
BOARD OF DIRECT
OR
S
Eric Christiansen
Lu Conrad
Neil Figurelli
Joe Headlee
Lance Holman
Randy Marcotte
Heather Renshaw
Vu etin
Scott Williams
EXECUTIVE DIRECT
OR
Mike Smith
STAFF
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.com/
facebookrgencyfund
aidseme
on Twitter
Follow us
#AEFsf
Michael Armentro
ut
Jonathan Foulk
Lee Harrington
Jeff Jones
Frank Martinez
Kome Muller
Maritza Penagos
12 Grace Street, Su
ite 300
San Francisco, CA
94103
PHONE
415.558.6999
FAX
415.558.6990
WEB
www.aef-sf.org
www.barechest.o
rg
www.leatherwalk.
org
Federal Tax ID
94-2922039