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Buy Your Tickets NOW for Party for Life, Feb. 5 at Stage 48 in NYC
The countdown is on! Gift for Life's 26th Annual Party for Life is Monday, Feb. 5, at an exciting new venue: Stage 48, located at 605 W. 48th St. in New York City (during the NY NOW tradeshow, within walking distance of the Javits Center). GFL's annual fund-raising gala benefitting DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, will feature great food, an open bar, dancing and a silent auction of fabulous prizes (see below). Trevor Cohen, president and CEO of Giftcraft, will receive GFL's Chuck Yancy Lifetime Achievement Award.
A record 90+ industry leaders have already committed $203,000 in sponsorships to the 2018 Party for Life. Buy your tickets today and be part of this important industry fundraiser! Individual tickets to the 26th Annual Party for Life are just $125 each. Tickets and sponsorships (starting at $500) can be purchased by clicking here. |
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| Stage 48 in NYC. |
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| Giftcraft's Trevor Cohen. |
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Advance Bidding for Party for Life's Silent Auction Items is Open!
Jewelry, wine, home goods, fashion accessories, vacation stays and much more are among the must-have prizes available at the silent auction taking place at GFL's Party for Life on Feb. 5 at Stage 48 in NYC. But why wait? A preview of auction items and advance bidding is now available online here. All proceeds benefit DIFFA's continuing efforts to fight HIV/AIDS. |
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| Original Pink Sole™ cowboy boots. |
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| Casa Agave in historic Centro, Mexico. |
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| Great Island Inn in New Castle, NH. |
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| Obeetee handwoven dhurrie wool rug. |
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LIFELINE Raises $43K to Support Natural Disaster Relief Efforts
LIFELINE – a national program to fund food and water provisions, organized by Gift For Life and AmericasMart Atlanta – raised $43,000 to assist communities nationwide impacted by the country's recent disasters, including Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and the California wildfires, through Feeding America member food banks. While the LIFELINE initiative concluded on January 12, you can still support a local food bank in the aftermath of a specific natural disaster by pledging your contribution and selecting a specific food bank at Feeding America's site here. |
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GFL Welcomes Lenise Willis to Board
Lenise Willis, editor-in-chief of Gifts and Decorative Accessories magazine, has joined the Board of Directors of Gift for Life. Willis is a graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has experience in both news reporting and content marketing, both in print and digital realms. "I'm so excited to be on the Gift for Life board, not just because I know we'll be working together for many great causes, but also because it's just a wonderful board of great personalities. The gift industry is such a warm and welcoming industry, and I'm thrilled to take part in it anyway I can, including being on the GFL board." |
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| Lenise Willis |
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Why Do You Support Gift for Life?
"Social Edge was born in the gift industry, and we wanted to get involved with a related organization that we believed in. We admire the work that Gift for Life is doing for the fight against HIV/AIDS, and we wanted to support it in the best way that we know how, which is getting the word out through social media. By helping Gift for Life with its Facebook and Instagram efforts, GFL is able to efficiently and effectively reach more people and to create awareness to help support its admirable cause."
– Crystal Vilkaitis, Founder, Social Edge, which has provided pro bono social media support to GFL. |
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| Crystal Vilkaitis |
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GFL Honoree John Portman Has Passed
AmericasMart founder John C. Portman, Jr. – recipient of Gift for Life's Legend For Life Award in 2012 – passed away on Dec. 29. An architect, real estate developer, entrepreneur, artist and altruist, Portman had a dramatic impact on Atlanta's success and growth as a major international city and had a similar impact on other major cities throughout the world. He is internationally recognized for significant urban mixed-use complexes wherein his understanding of people and their response to space translates into enhanced environments and award-winning architecture. To learn more about the legacy of John C. Portman, Jr., click here. |
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| John C. Portman, Jr. |
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GFL Remembers Dr. Mathilde Krim
Dr. Mathilde Krim, Founding Chairman of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, passed away peacefully on Jan. 15. A pioneer in AIDS research and activism, Dr. Krim was at the forefront of scientific and philanthropic responses to HIV/AIDS long before the world fully understood its catastrophic global reach. As amfAR's Founding Chairman, and Chairman of the Board from 1990 to 2004, Dr. Krim helped to create it, support it, keep it afloat, and guide it with extraordinary dedication. She was also a strong supporter of Gift for Life, which was affiliated with amfAR during GFL's early years. Dr. Krim was a driving force behind legislation that expanded access to lifesaving treatment and was behind efforts to scale up federal funding for AIDS research. In August 2000, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian honor in the United States. |
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| Dr. Mathilde Krim. |
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Spotlight on DIFFA Grantee: God's Love We Deliver
Thirty-two years ago, a hospice volunteer named Ganga Stone visited an AIDS patient who was too ill to cook for himself, so she prepared and delivered him a meal. As she was delivering another meal, Stone was stopped by a neighborhood minister who told her, "you’re not just delivering food...you're delivering God's love." From this humble beginning, Stone, along with Jane Best, created God's Love We Deliver. A nonsectarian organization, its mission is to improve the health and well-being of individuals living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses by preparing and delivering nutritious, high-quality meals to those in need. God’s Love also provides illness-specific nutrition education and counseling free of charge. God's Love We Deliver was the first organization to be awarded a grant from DIFFA; and, with DIFFA's support, God’s Love cooked and home-delivered 1.6 million meals to 6,803 clients in the past year– including 1,333 clients living with HIV/AIDS. To learn more, click here.
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| God's Love We Deliver volunteers. |
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Did You Know – New Weekly Capsule for HIV Drugs
Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed a capsule that can deliver a week's worth of HIV drugs in a single dose. This advance could make it much easier for patients to adhere to the strict schedule of dosing required for the drug cocktails used to fight the virus, the researchers say. The new capsule is designed so that patients can take it just once a week, and the drug will release gradually throughout the week. This type of delivery system could not only improve patients' adherence to their treatment schedule but also be used by people at risk of HIV exposure to help prevent them from becoming infected, the researchers say. For additional information, click here. |
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