
Paul
M. Glaser recieves a
"LIFETIME
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD"
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
******************************************************************
For more information about the foundation or to make donations on-line,
please visit their website.
www.pedaids.org
Donations can also be made through work place giving such as United Way
(designation code # 0484)