Heather Bresch and Rajiv Malik of Mylan present Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King with a check at Mylan WTT Smash Hits. The 20th annual event set a one-night record, raising $1 million. Photo: Fred & Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

On Tuesday, October 16, 2012, Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King hosted the 20th annual all-star charity tennis match – Mylan World TeamTennis (WTT) Smash Hits presented by GEICO – at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA. The event was a great success, raising a record $1 million to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) and the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force. You can view a photo gallery from the event here:

www.ejaf.org

“I’m so proud of everything the Elton John AIDS Foundation has accomplished over the past 20 years. We’ve raised over $275 million to support grassroots, community-based organizations providing HIV prevention, treatment, and care services and helping to eradicate AIDS-related discrimination in 55 countries around the world,” Sir Elton John stated during a pre-match VIP reception. “But I’m especially proud that, with your help, this foundation has become a forceful and relentless advocate for the health and rights of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. We’re not afraid to speak our minds, and we’re going to keep shouting for as long as we need to in order to end this epidemic.”

Sir Elton John, Stevie Nicks, and David Furnish at An Enduring Vision. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

On Monday, October 15, 2012, Sir Elton John continued his humanitarian efforts to raise money for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and awareness programs across the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean at EJAF’s 11th annual benefit An Enduring Vision held at Cipriani Wall Street. American Airlines, The Kraft Group, and Wells Fargo served as the Presenting Sponsors of the benefit, and the star-studded evening raised $2 million for the Foundation. CNN journalist and New York Times best-selling author Anderson Cooper hosted the gala dinner for a sixth consecutive year, and legendary singer Stevie Nicks performed. You can view a photo gallery from the event here:

www.ejaf.org/an-enduring-vision-2012

EJAF is very pleased to announce that Lady Gaga has very generously donated her LennonOno Grant for Peace to EJAF.

“I’m supremely honored to accept this grant and award today on behalf of youth empowerment around the world,” Lady Gaga said in her October 9 acceptance remarks at the award event in Reykjavik, Iceland. “I will be donating this grant to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and I will be working closely with them.”

“I am profoundly grateful to my friend Lady Gaga for generously donating her LennonOno Grant for Peace to the Elton John AIDS Foundation,” said Founder Sir Elton John. “John Lennon was a very, very dear friend of mine, and I’m so touched that Lady Gaga has chosen my Foundation to receive this grant.”

EJAF today announced its second round of grants for calendar year 2012, totaling $1,845,331. This new funding brings EJAF’s total grant investments for 2012 to $2,695,331 so far.

The two new and 11 renewal grants target gay men, injection drug users, incarcerated populations, and African Americans and include activities such as treatment information development and dissemination, legal services, organization development, and policy and advocacy across the Caribbean, Latin America, the Southern United States, as well as national initiatives in the U.S.. While these grants have been categorized into targeted areas, many of them have overlapping areas of focus, i.e., Latin American young people, Black MSM, Caribbean MSM, prison advocacy, etc.

You can find a complete list and project descriptions for all Round 2 grants here.

Earlier this week, the Washington Post published an op-ed by EJAF’s founder, Sir Elton John, regarding the mistreatment of HIV-positive prisoners in Alabama and South Carolina:

www.washingtonpost.com

EJAF has been dedicated to fighting stigma and supporting prevention efforts among marginalized groups, including prisoners, ever since our founding 20 years ago. For several years, EJAF has collaborated with the ACLU’s National Prisons Project’s efforts to change misguided policies that negatively impact the health and welfare of HIV-positive prisoners, providing grant support for lawsuits and advocacy efforts that have already resulted in prison policy changes in several key states.

An Enduring Vision
October 15th 2012
Cipriani Wall Street
55 Wall Street
Cocktails 7 PM
Dinner 8 PM

For ticket information, please contact Matt Blinstrubas at the Elton John AIDS Foundation, 212.219.0670 or matt.blinstrubas@ejaf.org

On Monday, October 15, 2012, the EJAF will present its 11th annual An Enduring Vision benefit at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Award-winning CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will host, and Founder Sir Elton John and Chairman David Furnish will pay tribute to several esteemed philanthropists by presenting EJAF’s Enduring Vision Awards to long-time supporters Robert Kraft, Diana Jenkins, and Joseph Blount. This year, Elton welcomes the incomparable Stevie Nicks as his special musical guest.

Bob Birch was bass player and backing vocalist in the Elton John Band for twenty years, performing at 1,441 Elton John concerts and on over 50 studio songs.  In addition, Bob performed at many events benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.  We remember him with great fondness, gratitude, and admiration, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Michele and son Jonathan during this difficult time.  We wish to share the thoughts of EJAF’s Founder Sir Elton John with the Foundation’s friends and supporters:
 
“I am devastated and shocked at the loss of my friend and fellow musician, Bob Birch. My heart goes out to Bob’s wife Michele, his son Jonathan and his family. To me Bob was family. He had been a member of my band for 20 years; we played over 1400 concerts together.  He was one of the greatest musicians I have ever worked with, and in all our years on the road he never played or sang a bad note.  I cannot find the words to describe this tragic death, and how much I loved him. May he rest in peace.” — Elton John, August 16, 2012

If you would like to make a contribution to EJAF in Bob’s memory, you may do so here.

EJAF and its Founder Sir Elton John and Chairman David Furnish had a very busy and productive time at AIDS 2012, the 19th International AIDS Conference, held in Washington, D.C., July 22-27, 2012.

Elton and David visited the installation of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall. They helped to unfold and install panels of the Quilt and participated in the public reading of the names of the more than 94,000 people whose lives have been memorialized in the 48,000 panels of the Quilt.

Additionally, Elton delivered a keynote speech at AIDS 2012. His remarks focused on the important message that love and compassion are essential to fighting stigma and ending the AIDS epidemic. “Millions of people around the world feel ashamed because of who they are, because of their HIV-positive status, because of their sexuality, because of their poverty . . .  Shame and stigma prevent them from getting help, from getting treatment, from protecting themselves in the first place.” You can read the full text of Elton’s speech here or watch a video of Elton delivering his remarks on You Tube.

Elton’s new book, Love Is the Cure, is a New York Times best seller. We are thrilled that Elton is reaching so many people with his message that compassion is essential to fighting stigma and ending the AIDS epidemic. You can watch Elton’s interview about the book with the Today Show’s Matt Lauer, and listen to his interview with Steve Inskeep of NPR’s Morning Edition.

Love Is the Cure tells the moving story of Elton’s friendship with Ryan White and his family, and how Ryan’s courageous struggle with hemophilia and HIV/AIDS and his humane response to the stigma associated with his illness inspired Elton to change his life and create the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He reflects on 20 years of the Foundation’s work through frontline stories from EJAF grantees around the world, and offers his insights on how compassion can be a transformative force in the fight against AIDS.

Sales of Love Is the Cure directly support the work of the Foundation

Order Love is the Cure from Amazon.com
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EJAF recently held its annual open call for grant proposals. If you submitted a request, click here for more information.