• A Letter from David Richart, Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s Executive Director
• Caring for People
• Preventing New Infections
• Advocating for Change
• Creating Community
• Upcoming Events

A Letter from David Richart, Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s Executive Director

Greetings Friends and Supporters of Lifelong AIDS Alliance,

Thank you so much! to all of our friends, family, supporters, colleagues and donors who dined out at a participating Dining Out For Life restaurant on April 30th. Additionally, many thanks to all the volunteers who served as restaurant volunteer ambassadors. Your support truly made a difference! Dining Out For Life is a wonderful example of how supportive our community can be especially during these tough economic times. From the preliminary numbers rolling in, we estimate we’ll meet our fundraising goal of $200,000 for the event. Finally, we would like to extend a huge thanks to our generous Dining Out For Life restaurant partners. Over 150 local restaurants took part this year. Please remember to check back on the Dining Out website and support our partners year-round!

Lifelong AIDS Alliance hosts additional food-related events every month to help care for our clients. Care To Shop is a food drive of non-perishable items that happens every Saturday at various grocery stores in the greater Seattle area. Food items donated at Care To Shop are distributed directly to Chicken Soup Brigade clients in their grocery bags. With the help of food collected from Care To Shop, Chicken Soup Brigade is able to provide over 1,100 bags of groceries to clients and distribute more than 3,000 meals a week through the pick up center and home delivery program.

Participating in Care To Shop is easy and fun! While shopping at a participating store on Saturday, pick up a list of items needed from a Volunteer outside and add a few items from the list to your cart. On your way out, drop the items in the Care To Shop barrels. You can also participate by volunteering at a Care To Shop at your local participating grocery store or by creating a food-drive at your workplace or school.

On Saturday, June 13, PCC Natural Markets will participate in a special Care To Shop at all of their Seattle-area locations. You can visit the website for specific information on PCC Natural Markets and all other grocery store partners.

Thanks,
David Richart
Executive Director

Caring for People

Last month, Lifelong successfully renewed our Evergreen Health Insurance Program contract for one year, with the possibility of it extending to ten years. This is great news for Lifelong and for the clients we serve, as it means we will be able to continue providing health insurance services to our clients in need.

Preventing New Infections

For the past several months, Erick Seelbach, Lifelong’s Director of Prevention, Education, and Public Policy, has been participating in the Prevention Prioritization subcommittee of the Seattle HIV/AIDS Planning Council. At last week's meeting, the Planning Council approved the 2010-2011 HIV Prevention Plan, which will guide funding for HIV Prevention in Seattle/King County for the next two years. Lifelong's Prevention Staff are now carefully looking at our current programming as preparation for the semiannual major grant writing season.

Pride Parade. Staff and volunteers have been hard at work preparing 20,000 condom kits to be distributed at the upcoming Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28, 2009, and to bars in the surrounding areas. Mark your calendars now and plan to come out and march with Lifelong AIDS Alliance in the parade. If you can’t make it to the parade but still want to participate, contact our volunteer department to help us make condom kits in preparation for the event.

Advocating for Change

March for Healthcare. On Saturday, May 30th, more than 150 organizations will come together for a major march and rally at Pratt Park (20th & E. Yesler) in Seattle to support the goal of winning quality, affordable health care for everyone in 2009. For more information, please visit the March for Healthcare website.

Stay current on important HIV/AIDS advocacy issues and how you can make a difference by visiting Lifelong’s Advocacy blog. Want to make a difference? Your voice CAN help! Join the C.A.N. Network, Communities in Action, and advocate for improved policies, services, research, prevention, and civil rights in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Creating Community

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the 16th Annual Dining Out For Life presented by BECU, Washington’s Largest Credit Union. Special thanks to Dining Out For Life sponsors: Subaru, Alaska Airlines, Titan Worldwide, Clear Channel Outdoor, the Seattle Weekly, Seattle Gay News, ‘MO Magazine, MOViN’ 92.5 FM, The Mountain 103.7 FM, OpenTable.com, and Yelp.

Be a part of the Lifelong community on these social networking sites:

Lifelong’s Facebook Page
Lifelong’s Myspace Page
Lifelong’s Twitter Page

The Lifelong Thrift Store is getting ready for the Seattle sunshine! With fantastic deals on summer dresses, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories, the Thrift Store will certainly have the gear to enhance everyone’s warm-weather wardrobes. If you’d like to donate to the Thrift Store, bring your items by during business hours. The Thrift Store is located at 1017 E. Union in Capitol Hill.

Upcoming Events

• Friday, June 5: Lifelong AIDS Alliance is co-hosting SAM REMIX at the Seattle Art Museum at 6:00 p.m. At this event, celebrate Gay Pride month with great indie dance music mixed by DJ Colby b and special guest DJs. Check out a tour of the galleries with Team Gina, special film screening curated by Three Dollar Bill Cinema, see some performances, mingle with friends and enjoy cocktails from TASTE Bar. Event is free with museum admission.

• The Sweet 16th Season of Gay Bingo is almost over! You only have ONE CHANCE LEFT to be a part of the wildest fundraising event in Seattle. Whether you’re a Gay Bingo veteran or a newbie, this event is fun for everyone 21 and over. The last Gay Bingo of the 2009 season:

Saturday, June 13 -- Adam and Steve Gay Bingo: My Big Fat Gay Wedding, with host Aleksa Manila.

Tickets are on sale now and selling out quickly! For event information, please visit www.llaa.org/gaybingo. To reserve tickets, please email gaybingo@llaa.org with your name and the number of tickets you would like.

The Sweet 16th Gay Bingo Season is presented by MOMS Pharmacy. Special thanks to Gay Bingo sponsors: Baked in Seattle, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Pyramid Breweries, MOViN 92.5 FM and the Seattle Weekly.

Ongoing Events

Whole Foods Market Westlake donates 10-cents to Chicken Soup Brigade for every customer who opts for a re-useable bag instead of traditional grocery bags.

Thank you for helping us in the fight against AIDS!