Presented to Paul Michael Glaser
from the Phoenix Body Positive!
Press Release by Phoenix Body Positive
At 8th Annual Night for Life Gala, Saturday, May 10
BANK ONE, JEFF BRODIN, CRAIG AND KAREN THORN, PAUL MICHAEL GLASER TO BE HONORED FOR THEIR SUPPORT IN BATTLE AGAINST HIV
PHOENIX, Ariz. (April 21, 2003): Four individuals, including actor Paul Michael Glaser, and the state's largest bank will be honored for their outstanding support of and contributions to Body Positive, an HIV and AIDS Research and Resource Center, and the battle against HIV/AIDS at the 8th annual Night for Life celebration, Saturday, May 10 at the Phoenician.
Former board chair and former Night for Life co-chair Jeff Brodin, a senior attorney with Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award; Bank One will be recognized with the Corporate Leadership Award for its long-term financial and volunteer support for Body Positive; and Craig and Karen Thorn will receive the Outstanding Philanthropist Award for financially supporting wellness programs to keep HIV-positive people healthy and well until a definitive treatment can be found.
Glaser, who starred in the TV hit Starsky & Hutch and directed the movie, The Running Man, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for his tireless work as an AIDS activist which includes co-founding the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
The black-tie event, which benefits Body Positive's education, prevention and Clinical Trials programs, will be dedicated to the memory of John Bircumshaw, former executive director of the Phoenix Museum of History, who passed away earlier this year. Bircumshaw was both an advocate for and an active supporter of Body Positive as well as many other non-profit social services and arts organizations in the Valley.
"These are the people and the organizations who give Body Positive the financial, emotional and volunteer strength to continue meeting the needs of the men, women and children in our community living with HIV and AIDS and those who surround them," said Body Positive Executive Director Brian Helander. "They know that, despite the progress we've made in terms of keeping people alive, as long as there is no cure, the disease continues to win the battles. With their help, and the support of the thousands of others on our side, we hope to win the war."
Brodin helped found and chaired the HIV/AIDS Law Project of the Maricopa County Bar Association. He served on the Body Positive board from 1993 to 2001 and was chair from 1997 to 1999. He is now a member of the Body Positive Foundation Board of Directors.
Brodin's employer, APS, is the presenting sponsor of Night for Life 2003.
Bank One has provided ongoing financial and volunteer support for Body Positive since the mid-1990s and is represented on the Board of Directors by Lydia Lee, vice president of Community Relations, who also has co-chaired Night for Life.
The Thorns became involved with Body Positive as a result of a death in their family from AIDS. Their financial contributions have enabled Body Positive to maintain and expand its wellness services which includes access to acupuncture, naturopathic care and the Vitamin and Herb Shop, among other services.
Glaser, who appeared in the film Fiddler on the Roof early in his career, and his late wife, Elizabeth, founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation in 1988 after their daughter, Ariel, died at age seven, the result of a contaminated blood transfusion that eventually took Elizabeth's life in 1994. Since then, among the foundation's ongoing efforts, the Elizabeth Glaser Scientists Award was established to fund research into the AIDS virus
Night for Life co-chairs are Carrie Schnepf of Schnepf Farms and Bobby Barnes of Legacy Home Mortgage, Inc.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is the Honorary Chair of Night for Life.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction. Dinner, entertainment and the live auction begin at 7:30 p.m.
Individual tickets are $250 with sponsorship opportunities beginning at $3,500.
For information about Night for Life or to purchase tickets, call (602) 307-5330. For information about Body Positive, visit the web site at www.phoenixbodypositive.org.
Body Positive is an HIV and AIDS Research and Resource Center providing the community with the knowledge, resources and collective strength necessary for individuals to live long and well with HIV and to prevent the spread of the disease. Body Positive operates the largest privately funded
Clinical Trials Program in the Southwest."
Thank you Phoenix Body Positive for press release information
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