This Old Bag: Pink Goes Green - AIDS Emergency Fund
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summer 2008 AIDS EMERGENCY FUND • BREAST CANCER EMERGENCY FUND QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER This Old Bag: Pink Goes Green Top: Crystal-encrusted Judith Leiber minaudiere with rose-quartz clasp, from the collection of the Honorable Bella Farrow, This Old Bag Host Committee Chair. Middle: The “IT” bag of the season: Roberto Cavalli’s deluxe Apple Bag, donated by long-time This Old Bag supporter Sharon Stone. Bottom: Elegant Asprey of London large cotton tote with crocodile trim and matching wallet, donated by Sharon Osbourne. On Wednesday, August 6, 2008, many of San Francisco’s most philanthropic citizens gathered at the Spanish Suite at Clift for a sneak preview of celebrity and designer purses to be auctioned off at Breast Cancer Emergency Fund’s fourth annual This Old Bag: The Power of the Purse. Guests enjoyed specialty cupcakes provided by That Takes the Cake, drank vodka by Pearl Vodka, and sipped champagne donated by J Vineyards, while admiring a lavish assortment of designer handbags and autographed purses. Among them were celebrity bags from Sharon Osbourne, Kathy Najimy, Renee Fleming, Sharon Stone, Sharon McNight, Tiffani Thiessen, and the Hon. Bella Farrow, as well as designer handbags from Chanel, Goldenbleu, Judith Leiber, Marni, Samsonite Black Label Couture, Furla, Foley & Corinna, Sanrio, and Bryna Nicole. BCEF is proud to announce that Kaiser Permanente has returned as Presenting Sponsor of This Old Bag. And this year’s Host Committee chairs, the Hon. Bella Farrow and Hilary Newsom Callan, have assembled a dedicated group of prominent San Franciscans to serve on the Host Committee, including Beatrice Amblard, Wilkes Bashford, Chris Bently & Amber Marie Bently, Harry Denton, Hon. Kamala Harris, Elaine LaMastra, Carolyn Lee, Hon. Fiona Ma, Bahya Oumlil-Murad and Beth Townsend. This year’s This Old Bag: The Power of the Purse will take place at the W San Francisco on Friday evening, October 17, beginning at 6 p.m. To date, over 100 bags have been donated for this year’s event including bags from Bo’s Art Studio, Glory Chen, Oberon Designs, Stella Page, Sally Spicer, Slainte Bags, and Talulah New York, and retailers including Bettina, kati koos, United Colors of Benetton and Mom’s the Word. We are also excited to announce this year’s Pink Goes Green initiative. Look for our Pink Goes Green table boasting beautiful purses created from various recycled materials by eco-conscious designers, with contributions from fashion-forward designers including Be Sweet, The News, chemical wedding handbags, Banyan Paper, Hilside Bags, Personally Yours, Rock Musick, earthbags, Ecologic Designs, Greenheart, and ez-duz-it by elliott. Even our event planning has gone eco-friendly, which includes switching from water bottles to pitchers, replacing cut florals with potted plants, using recycled napkins, and composting leftovers. With the help of W San Francisco, we are committed to producing an amazing fundraising event while reducing our ecological footprint. If you have a new handbag, or a previously owned handbag that is in excellent condition that you’d like to donate, please contact Joanie Juster at 415.558.6999 x4 or visit www.ThisOldBag.org Tickets to This Old Bag are limited to 300, so you are encouraged to buy your tickets in advance at www.ThisOldBag.org. Save The Date Dine Around, November 19, 2008 Zephyr Real Estate Returns As Exclusive Corporate Sponsor Make plans now to Dine Around on Wednesday, November 19, 2008, when more than 40 restaurants will donate 25% of that day’s food and beverage sales to AEF and BCEF. We are excited that Zephyr Real Estate is returning as the exclusive corporate sponsor for this seventh annual neighborhood fundraising event. You can join many of Zephyr’s agents and thousands of your neighbors by making reservations at participating restaurants. If you’re up for a fundraising challenge, we encourage you to adopt a restaurant and become a Restaurant Captain and commit to hosting a dinner party of eight or more of your friends. You can also volunteer as a Restaurant Greeter; pair up with your best friend, choose a restaurant, and enjoy an adventurous evening. To volunteer go to www.dinearoundsf.org, and click on Volunteer Now. Last year’s Dine Around was a recordbreaking year. With the support of Zephyr Realty, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Merchants of Upper Market and Castro, Castro Lions Club and Open Table, last year’s Dine Around raised an incredible $38,000 for AEF and BCEF clients. That means 65 clients received emergency assistance when they were too sick to work. From the President Cynthia’s Hester, Board President Expansion Update BCEF Serves First San Mateo Client A Force of Spare Change: Steven Sams AEF has been fortunate over the years to work with dedicated and generous supporters. It is an honor and a privilege to have these special people as part of the AEF family. Any conversation about community fundraising for HIV/ AIDS causes in San Francisco is incomplete without mentioning Steven Sams. Over a 27-year work career, Steven brought thousands of colleagues into the cause and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the community. On the occasion of Steven’s retirement from AT&T, we want to honor him and acknowledge the extraordinary impact he has had on AEF and other AIDS organizations. Steven has organized his company’s AIDS Walk team every year since the very first Walk, often rallying a team of more than 1,000 colleagues and using his own personal challenge grant to spur his co-workers to new heights of generosity. In 1987, he turned his focus to AEF’s Pennies Project, directing his fundraising army towards workplace giving. Through an elaborate command structure of office captains and competing teams, Steven marshaled hundreds of people to place AEF penny jars on desktops throughout the company. In total, local AT&T employees have raised more than $90,000 in pennies and spare change, all under Steven’s fearless leadership. Now that he is retired, Steven has turned over his army of Penny volunteers to Betsy Kraft, and he is beginning to enjoy his free time. But don’t think that means he’ll be cutting back on his volunteering and fundraising activities. “I am busy uploading my 19,000 e-mail contacts to my home computer,” says Steven. “You know, I can be so much more productive when I don’t have to work!” Congratulations on your retirement, Steven, and thank you for all you have done and will continue to do for our community! By late summer, BCEF will enter a new phase of service to our community. Thanks to the generous support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Safeway Foundation, BCEF is partnering with several impressive agencies to expand emergency financial assistance for breast cancer patients into San Mateo County. “It’s a much different service need than we’ve seen in San Francisco” said Cynthia Hester, AEF/ BCEF Board President, “We are excited to partner with providers like Breast Cancer Connections (BCC) to help us identify the greatest need. But we were surprised by what services are most frequently requested.” BCEF’s first San Mateo based client was a working mom. “Tammy” and her husband were a dual-income household until Tammy was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Hoping to spend some time this summer with her kids while she could still participate in their active lifestyle, Tammy resigned from her job. Her husband took not one but two extra shifts at a shipping warehouse to make up the loss of income. When BCEF was contacted by BCC, the request was sobering: food. Tammy and her husband were eating one meal a day rather than deny their children healthy diets. The loss of nutrition was adversely impacting Tammy’s health. BCC was working with the family to secure long-term food assistance, but a holiday weekend was approaching and the need was immediate. BCEF contacted Safeway Corporate directly and purchased food gift cards that Safeway made available immediately at the nearest San Mateo store location. BCC staff picked up the cards and delivered them to Tammy’s home. “It’s going to be a tough time for Tammy and her family,” said Susannah Dunlap, BCEF Director, “but thanks to BCC’s intervention and corporate partners like Safeway, they know they’re not alone.” BCEF is honored to begin services in San Mateo and grateful to the expertise of our community partners who already do great work for the breast cancer community. Steven Sams OUR COMMUNITY NEVER STOPS GIVING 05.17.08 MAMA’S BCEF DINNER Mama Sandy’s Family and the Alexander Hamilton Post 448 hosted the 8th Annual BCEF Dinner and Auction raising $3500 for BCEF clients! www.mamasfamily.org 06.25.08 Mingle at the Matrix: A Fundraiser for Cancer Survivorship A huge thanks to one of breast cancer’s strongest young advocates, Ilana Minkoff. Ilana’s event, hosted by our friends at Plumpjack, raised over $6500 for BCEF and First Descents. www.ilanaminkoff.com www.firstdescents.org 2 Heart To Heart 06.29.08 07.13.08 07.25.08 AEF and BCEF volunteers, board and staff decked themselves out as cowboys and cowgirls and sashayed down sunny Market Street to country western music, shaking down the crowd, and raising over $3,200 for our clients. Our festive County Fair float, complete with hay bales and cow balloons, was sponsored by the good folks at Beach Blanket Babylon. The Castro Lions marked their 25th year of community service at the Eagle Tavern by presenting more than $20,000 to community groups including a total of $5,000 to AEF and BCEF. Over the last 25 years, the Lions have donated more than $100,000 to AEF and BCEF. Thank you, Lions! Daddy Glenn Tanking and The Eagle Tavern hosted the 26th annual contest\ Up Your Alley Weekend. Congratulations to Ray Middling who beat out five other men for the title. In total the contestants raised $1800 for AEF. Thanks to Daddy Glenn Tanking, Daddy’s Boy Angle, Snatch and the everyone involved. www.SFLDadsandboys.com Pride Parade County Fair Float Castro Lions Check Presentation 07.20.08 AIDS Walk San Francisco Small in size but big of heart, AEF’s AIDS Walk team braved the fog and wind in Golden Gate Park for a day of powerhouse community fundraising. When the grand total of $4,512,934 was announced, our walkers had the satisfaction of knowing they had raised almost $8,400 of it! Many thanks to our walkers for a tremendous fundraising effort. San Francisco Leather Daddy XXVI Contest 07.27.08 Up Your Alley street fair Up Your Alley street photo: Rich statdmi fair remains one of the premier fetish events in the world, and monies raised from sponsorship, booth fees and gate collections benefit local beneficiaries including AEF. Thanks to our outstanding volunteers, AEF is poised to receive a lot of cash in the fall. www.folsomstreetevents.org statdmiller Joe Garcia, Client Services Associate Donor Profile Who’s who at AEF/BCEF After six years as AEF/BCEF’s controller and business manager, Jeffrey Johnson recently relocated to Seattle to be closer to family. Jeffrey left giant shoes behind that needed filling, and after a long search, we are delighted to introduce our newest staff member, Jose (Joe) Garcia! Joe is a native of the Philippines, where he completed his university studies at Far Eastern University in Manila and qualified as a Certified Public Accountant. After a lengthy work stint there as an internal and external auditor, he emigrated to the United States in 1996 and settled in the Bay Area. He worked for several years in accounting and administrative positions for nonprofit and housing related agencies like Bethany Center Senior Housing, Northern California Land Trust and Bethel Housing Development. “Joe’s first day at AEF was the day In April, AEF received a $1600 grant from Eastside College Preparatory School’s Project Give program. This three-year program was made possible by a grant from the John and Marcia Goldman Foundation. This innovative program introduces students to the art and philosophy of philanthropy. The seventh and eighth grade students researched and selected Bay Area nonprofits which could most effectively use small grants to make a difference in their community. Through a process of consensus building, teamwork, debate and compromise, the students gave away almost $11,000 to nine organizations including AEF. We are proud to have been selected by these young philanthropists. FOUNDERS Who’s That Fresh Face? Volunteer Now Fall Activities The busy summer and fall seasons offer plenty of opportunities for volunteers to get involved. In addition to the events listed below, we have a few special daytime opportunities for volunteers with particular skills, including: 07.30.08 – 08.04.08 Lazy Bear Weekend Thousands of big furry friends descended on the Russian River for a weekend of fun and fundraising. Both AEF and BCEF were beneficiaries and the Bare Chest Calendar Men spent the week serving up beers poolside. Kudos to Harry Lit and his team for another successful year! More info: www.lazybearweekend.org 09.07.08 Country Western Dance-a-thon The 2009 Bare Chest Calendar Men present this second annual down-home country dancin’ version of a dance-a-thon. Collect pledges from family, friends and co-workers to benefit AIDS Emergency Fund and Positive Resource Center. Then put on your favorite cowboy boots, bring your pledges and prepare to two-step non-stop for three hours with some of San Francisco’s hottest cowboys (and evens cowgirls). More info and pledge sheets: www.sundancesaloon.org Project Give before the County Fair, our biggest event of the year,” said Mike Smith. “He survived the chaos of that day, so I am sure he will fit right in here!” As Controller and Office Manager, Joe will handle all the finances of AEF and BCEF, review all client files for compliance and accuracy before payments are made, and handle the many administrative tasks that keep AEF and BCEF operating smoothly. While Joe may find the day-to-day tasks of his job to be similar to his previous employment, he is excited about the many perks of working in an LGBT office environment. “Within the first month, I was riding down Market Street on a float in the Parade!” said Joe. “It was something I never imagined doing. I am certainly a long way from Manila – and enjoying very minute of working here!” Frederick H. Booth, Jr. Walter Mellon Board President Cynthia Hester Vice-President Neil Figurelli Treasurer Rafael Scroggins Secretary Nicole Auyang Board of Directors Eric Christiansen SUSANNAH DUNLAP Veronica Labeau Stephen Logan Joe Pessa Lara Sallee Barry Skown Sharon Tetlow EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mike Smith STAFF JAI DE LOTTO JOE GARCIA SUZY GOLDSMITH LEE HARRINGTON JOANIE JUSTER P TYRONE SMITH 965 Mission STREET Suite 630 San Francisco, CA 94103 PHONE 415.558.6999 FAX •Auction Coordinator » This Old Bag •Volunteer Administrative Assistant •Penny Jar pickups in the North Bay, Easy Bay, and Peninsula (must have a car) •This Old Bag Invitations Mailing — September 3-5 •Fundraising Letter Mailing — September 10-12 •LeatherWalk - September 21 •Folsom Street Fair - September 28 •Castro Street Fair – October 5 •This Old Bag – October 17 •Newsletter Mailing – November 5-7 •Dine Around – November 19 415.558.6990 WEB www.aef-sf.org www.barechest.org www.bcef-sf.org www.thisoldbag.org www.dinearoundsf.org To review these volunteer activities and to sign up, go to www.aef-sf.org or www.bcef-sf.org and click on Volunteer Now. 09.09.08 San Francisco Leather Daddy’s Boy XXVI Contest First Last, San Francisco Leather Daddy XXVI, and The Eagle Tavern host the search for the 26th annual San Francisco Leather Daddy’s Boy. For more information and to sign up: www.SFLDadsandboys.com 09.21.08 09.28.08 The 25th Annual Leather Week officially begins with the raising of the leather flag, followed by this three-mile fundraising bar crawl for AEF and BCEF. More information and pledge sheets: www.mamasfamily.org Volunteering should always be this much fun! We are recruiting 50 volunteers for Folsom Street Fair and Magnitude. Each hour you work generates over $100 for AEF. More info and to sign up: www.aef-sf.org and click on Volunteer Now. Mama’s Leather Walk 10.5.08 09.14.08 Castro Street Fair You can help AEF while having a good time volunteering at the Castro Street Fair. Grants str ,sfr to community groups based on the number of hours volunteered. So sign up and bring a friend! More info and to sign up: www.aef-sf.org and click on Volunteer Now. Tighty Whitey Car Wash The 2009 Bare Chest Calendar Men offer up this provocative new fundraising event. The Calendar Men are dressing down to their undies, donated by Andrew Christian, and hope to stop traffic near 18th and Castro with their sights set on washing 100’s of dirty (or near dirty) cars. A $20 donation is requested. Tips accepted. Oh, and 2009 Calendars will be for sale too. More info: www.barechest.org 09.21.08 Komen Race For Cure Join one of BCEF’s strongest sponsors, Susan G. Komen for the Cure for the 18th Annual Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure! www.komensf.org Folsom Street Fair photo: Rich statdmiller 09.21.08 Bare Chest Calendar Auction 1 One of San Francisco’s most anticipated events occurs at The Eagle Tavern immediately following Mama’s Leather Walk. Bidding starts at 3pm and features the six of the twelve 2009 Calendar Men who have put together outstanding dinner date packages. See the men and their packages: www.barechest.org 10.09.08 Beats 4 Boobs Rock your socks off with some of the hottest art, music, fashion and boobs in town! www.beats4boobs.org 10.20.08 Strike Out Breast Cancer Universal Share’s 10th Annual Strike Out Breast Cancer brings The Motown Sound to Presidio Bowling Center, Monday, October 20, 2008 www.strikeoutbreastcancer.com AIDS EMERGENCY FUND • BREAST CANCER EMERGENCY FUND Providing emergency financial assistance to people fighting AIDS and breast cancer NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN FRANCISCO, CA PERMIT #1504 965 MISSION STREET, SUITE 630 • SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94103 www.aidsemergencyfund.org www.aef-sf.org www.breastcanceremergencyfund.org www.bcef-sf.org ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Tighty Whitey Car Wash ber 14 Septem th Street on 18 & collingwood between castro est.org www.barech Perspective Mike Smith, Executive Director Save These Dates 09.14.08 bare chest tighty whitey car wash 09.07.08 country western dance-a-thon 09.21.08 Mama’s leather walk 09.21.08 bare CHEST dinner date auction 10.17.08 This Old Bag 10.20.08 strike out breast cancer Transitions at BCEF After two and half years as Program Director of BCEF Susannah Dunlap has announced her departure. She has been presented with a career opportunity that she cannot turn down, and sadly decided that it is time to move on. Her absence from the office will be a huge loss for BCEF and for all of us who have loved working with her. So I want to use my column inches here to let you (and her) know how much she means to us and our clients. At her job interview in December 2005, we were amazed that someone so young seemed to have a complete working knowledge of street life in the Tenderloin. During her work there over several years, she devel- 4 Heart To Heart oped great professional relationships with many of our closest peer agencies doing anti-poverty work in San Francisco. She brought all those partnerships to BCEF, and also quickly built new relationships with SF General Hospital and many of the service providers throughout the City. Under her leadership, BCEF doubled its number of clients served, then doubled again and doubled again. She was committed to seeing that every single low-income woman in San Francisco battling breast cancer knew about BCEF’s services and received those services in a culturally appropriate manner. When she reached that goal, she helped craft our recent expansion of services into San Mateo county. Susannah is equally at home at Mama’s BCEF dinner, hosting bar events in Bernal Heights, talking handbags with This Old Bag donors in Pacific Heights, or speaking at national breast cancer conferences in front of thousands. Susannah was the consummate advocate for her program and her clients: helping everyone she came in contact with to understand the plight of low income women battling breast cancer. She leaves a very large pair of shoes for her successor to fill. We have started the search and will, no doubt, have an announcement soon. In the meantime, Susannah isn’t getting away too easily; she’ll continue to be one of the driving forces behind This Old Bag in October. Also, please help me welcome AEF/BCEF’s newest member of our Board of Directors: Susannah Dunlap!
