Last week at Pittsburgh City Hall, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, World TeamTennis (WTT) CEO/Commissioner Ilana Kloss, and Mylan CEO Heather Bresch announced that longtime friends Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King would bring the annual charity tennis event, Mylan World TeamTennis Smash Hits presented by GEICO, to Pittsburgh for the first time in the event’s 20-year history. Proceeds from the event will benefit EJAF and the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.

Tickets may be ordered through www.wttsmashhits.com or ticketmaster.com. For group sales of 10 or more tickets, please call 412-924-8270. Special VIP ticket packages, including VIP courtside seating and admission to the VIP Reception and Auction, will also be available for $500; please call 412-924-8270 to purchase VIP packages.

Mrs. Lily Safra Photo: © Eric Megret

EJAF is tremendously grateful to Mrs. Lily Safra for choosing the Foundation as one of 32 charities that will each receive $1 million from the spectacularly successful auction Jewels for Hope: The Collection of Mrs. Lily Safra, held on May 14, 2012, by Christie’s Geneva. 100% of the collection presented for auction was sold, raising US $32 million and greatly exceeding the collection’s pre-sale estimate. Because of the auction’s tremendous success, Mrs. Safra selected an additional twelve charitable organizations to join the twenty originally chosen to benefit from the sale.

“Lily Safra is a dear friend of Elton’s and mine, but more than that, she has been a true champion in the fight against AIDS,” said EJAF Chairman David Furnish. “Her support of our critical work has been invaluable. Elton and I are so thankful for her continued generosity through this wonderful auction, and we are very proud of her longtime, personal commitment to AIDS awareness, treatment, and prevention.”

Sir Elton John has been selected by the organizers of the 19th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) to serve as a keynote speaker for the Conference, which will be held July 22-27, 2012, in Washington, DC. Sir Elton’s keynote address will take place during the Monday, July 23, session of the Conference.

An estimated 25,000 conference participants will attend AIDS 2012, which has been organized under the theme Turning the Tide Together. This theme focuses on the urgent truth that a global and decisive commitment is crucial to change the course of the epidemic, now that science is presenting promising results in HIV treatment and biomedical prevention.

On Sunday, September 9, 2012, the EJAF and the AIDS Committee of Toronto will be the beneficiaries of the MAC VIVA Glam Fashion Cares 25: A Night of Glitter & Light with Elton John and Friends – a glamorous concert event to be held at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, Canada. The event will also include complimentary cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a fashion show featuring “Actively Outrageous” fashions of the past 25 years, as well as a retrospective of Elton’s fantastic stage costumes. Tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster here.

EJAF today announced its first round of grants for calendar year 2012 totaling $850,000. Three grants have been awarded to AIDS United, The NAMES Project’s “Quilt-In the Capital 2012” program, and the SERO Project’s “HIV Is Not a Crime” program.

“We are tremendously excited about the important work of these three grantees,” said EJAF Chairman David Furnish. “We look forward to collaborating with them over the next year and furthering our shared goals of fighting stigma and supporting underserved populations in communities heavily impacted by HIV/AIDS.”

Details here.

EJAF has received its 7th consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. This year is also the second time in a row that EJAF has received a 4-star rating under Charity Navigator’s new, enhanced metrics.

Receiving four out of a possible four stars indicates that our Foundation consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way and adheres to good governance and other best practices that promote and ensure ethical and transparent business dealings. Only 14% of organizations evaluated by Charity Navigator have received two consecutive 4-star ratings under the new system, indicating that our Foundation outperforms most other charities in America.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation’s newest grantee spotlight highlights the work of the Foundation’s Syringe Access Fund grantees and the important issue of syringe exchange as a means of preventing HIV transmission among injection drug users.

More than 4,000 people become newly infected with HIV every year in the U.S. because of unsafe injection drug use. This accounts for nearly one in 10 new HIV infections. In a country as wealthy as the United States, these poor health statistics are entirely preventable, and thus remain entirely unacceptable.

Read the grantee spotlight on syringe exchange programs here.

2012 marks the 20th year since the establishment of the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992. To kick off our commemoration of EJAF’s 20th year, we are very pleased to introduce the Foundation’s special 20th year logo, which will appear on our website and in all of our communications, publications, and materials going forward.

We look back over the past twenty years with tremendous pride at what we have been able to accomplish together with the help of generous friends like you. From a modest beginning in 1992, we have since raised over $225 million for front-line HIV/AIDS programs in 55 countries and have become a reputable voice speaking out on behalf of the poor, the marginalized, and the ignored and for key changes in HIV/AIDS policy that could help end this epidemic.