{"id":720,"date":"2015-01-06T23:57:07","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T23:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/?p=720"},"modified":"2015-01-07T01:05:21","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T01:05:21","slug":"the-steve-chase-humanitarian-awards-and-d-a-p-invite-you-to-imagine-a-world-without-hiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/?p=720","title":{"rendered":"The Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards and D.A.P. invite you to \u2026 Imagine a world without HIV"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards and D.A.P. invite you to \u2026 Imagine a world without HIV<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Barry Dayton<\/p>\n

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Desert AIDS Project has long been part of the fabric of the desert cities communities \u2026 almost since the first AIDS diagnoses in 1981. Even before it was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1984, D.A.P. was already providing essential programs and services to those living with or affected by HIV or AIDS, as a part of the Community Counseling and Consultation Center. The CCCC was staffed by volunteer nurses, social workers, and others who just wanted to help those who were so ill \u2013 many quickly dying \u2013 from this mysterious new disease.<\/p>\n

One of those helping to lead the charge in those earliest days was internationally-known interior designer Steve Chase \u2013 truly a man of imagination. While D.A.P. likes to think he\u2019d be proud that the gala bearing his name since 1995 has become a centerpiece of the Palm Springs social season, they\u2019re also sure he\u2019d say it didn\u2019t mean much if the event hadn\u2019t also raised millions of dollars for AIDS care, prevention, and advocacy over its soon-to-be 21 years. In fact, the gala raised $1.4 million last year alone.<\/p>\n

Take a journey through your imagination at \u201cThe Steve Chase\u201d on Saturday, February 7<\/strong><\/p>\n

The PSA currently running on local TV<\/a> \u2013 in heavy rotation, thanks to gala sponsor Time Warner Cable \u2013 invites us all to \u201cImagine\u201d a different world. The gala\u2019s promotion is being helped by #imagineNoAIDS<\/a> on Twitter and elsewhere in the online space, like the \u201cdigital wall\u201d<\/a> D.A.P. created for posting messages, photos, and videos about what that world without AIDS might look like.<\/p>\n

D.A.P. board chair and Steve Chase gala co-chair Barbara Keller<\/strong> says, \u201cWe are so committed to helping bring about an AIDS-free generation that we\u2019ve been out, all over the community \u2013 including our Desert AIDS Walk, the Pathways HIV Conference, and the inaugural Everyday Heroes event on World AIDS Day \u2013 asking people to tell us what their message of hope and imagination looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re at the 21st<\/sup> Annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center, presented by Integrated Wealth Management, you\u2019ll see more of what it means to \u201cImagine.\u201d The hysterically funny Mario Cantone will be the evening\u2019s emcee, injecting his special brand of humor, while Broadway sensation Shoshana Bean will be the evening\u2019s featured performer.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Keller\u2019s fellow D.A.P. board member and gala co-chair for seven years, Jim Casey, adds, \u201cThis year, we have an incredible team who have written a very touching story that will weave through the evening, using song and dance to interpret one couple\u2019s story of what it means to live with HIV. We are so excited to have the incredible, combined talents of Scott Alan, whose songs have been sung by the elite of Broadway, under the creative direction of Live It Up Productions president Trini Garza and his co-creative director Brandon Alameda.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Standard Magazine is a proud Sponsor of the 21st<\/sup> Annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards!<\/strong><\/p>\n

They join Desert AIDS Project in thanking Wells Fargo, Eisenhower Medical Center, Harold Matzner, Walgreens, One America Insurance, Annette Bloch, Desert Regional Medical Center, Helene Galen, Steve Tobin, Elgart Aster & Paul Swerdlove, Hard Rock Hotel, Donna MacMillan, Reaction Productions<\/strong> \u2026 and many, many more \u2026 for not only imagining a world without HIV but helping D.A.P. be a part of the solution in getting there.<\/p>\n

Want to be there on February 7th<\/sup>? Reserve your tickets NOW!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s as easy as calling JP Allen at 760-992-0440 or buying them online by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Meet the 2015 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards Honorees <\/strong><\/p>\n

The 3 Ws\u201d \u2013 wealth, wisdom, work \u2013 are part of the criteria that many nonprofit organizations use when deciding on the best candidates for their volunteer board of directors. After all, these are the men and women who set policy, help guide the organization, and take on a fiduciary responsibility. Of course, finding people like these who share the nonprofit\u2019s mission isn\u2019t just limited to the board of directors.<\/p>\n

Each year, the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards honors two of these local community leaders, as well as others who make significant contributions to the overall cause of HIV\/AIDS research, care, prevention, and advocacy. Meet this year\u2019s honorees:<\/p>\n

Helene Galen \u2013 100 Women Award for 2015, presented by Senator Barbara Boxer<\/strong><\/p>\n

This well-known philanthropist seems to have generosity etched into her very DNA, as she continues the good works she began with her late husband, financier Louis J. Galen. Perhaps best-known is their $50 million gift to help build the Galen Center, a 10,000+-seat arena at Louis\u2019s alma mater, the University of Southern California. Helene has continued supporting children, the homeless, education, the arts, and more. Locally, Helene\u2019s recent gifts have included $1.5 million for a new theater at Rancho Mirage High School, as well as $1 million for the new Palm Springs Art Museum location in Palm Desert. She touches many lives through her donations to the Barbara Sinatra Children\u2019s Center, the McCallum Theatre, Jewish Family Services, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Helene Galen has also supported D.A.P. financially, including as an Award Sponsor at the Steve Chase gala for several years and as a member of the 100 Women annual giving program that gratefully bestows this award on her. Thanks for being on the D.A.P. team, Helene!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dave Morgan \u2013 2015 Partners for Life Award, presented by Leslie Jordan<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been to the Copa Nightclub recently for an evening of entertainment or enjoyed the comedy of Leslie Jordan, the drag of Varla Jean Merman, or the musical stylings of Amy & Freddy, you may not have realized that you were already \u201cDave Morgan-adjacent.\u201d That venue and those acts \u2026 and much more \u2026 all fall under the direction of Palm Springs resident Dave Morgan, who is owner of Reaction Marketing & Promotions. As its website says, Reaction \u201ccreates and executes custom promotions that get the reaction you want. We bring together entertainment and consumer goods to create explosive results on multiple platforms.\u201d Dave and Reaction build their clients\u2019 business with TV, radio, and print, as well as through on-premise programs, events, and tours. So, when this long-time D.A.P. supporter said, \u201cHey, I have this idea for a fundraiser,\u201d they listened \u2026 and the popular \u201cDancing with the Desert Stars\u201d event was born. And for four years, it\u2019s been raising increasingly more money for client services, as it puts smiles on the faces of D.A.P. supporters. Quite a reaction, Dave!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Gottlieb \u2013 2015 Science and Medicine Award, presented by Dr. Steven Scheibel<\/strong><\/p>\n

His discovery of the elements making up would become known as AIDS before the first diagnoses were made in 1981 reads almost like the noire<\/em> detective novels of the 1940s. That\u2019s when the young assistant professor at the UCLA Medical Center, whose specialty was immunology, found a strange set of symptoms in a young gay patient \u2013 unexplained fevers, dramatic weight loss, and a severely damaged immune system. Dr. Gottlieb\u2019s sleuthing work led to a total of five cases, as he and his forensic team analyzed blood and tissue samples and eventually named their suspect: a DNA virus laying waste to immune system T-cells, the ones that defend against invading infections. Doctors and researchers worldwide were adding pieces to the puzzle but Dr. Gottlieb was one of few who spoke freely about the controversial disease. His work in the early days of the epidemic is chronicled in \u201cAnd the Band Played On\u201d and Gottlieb was physician to both the late Elizabeth Glaser, co-founder of the pediatric AIDS foundation bearing her name, and Rock Hudson. Using a $250,000 gift from Hudson\u2019s estate, Dr. Gottlieb was one of the founding chairs of amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, along with AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor and Dr. Mathilde Krim, who was the Science and Medicine Award winner at the 2006 Steve Chase gala. Dr. Michael Gottlieb is a living legend in the world of HIV\/AIDS!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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But what\u2019s \u201cthe report card\u201d for Desert AIDS Project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s great to throw wonderful parties that raise lots of money for client services at Desert AIDS Project \u2013 and keep the message before the public that \u201cAIDS is not over\u201d \u2013 what\u2019s going on at D.A.P.?<\/p>\n

Click on the hyperlinks below for even greater detail of how Desert AIDS Project is bringing its mission of \u201ccare, prevention, and advocacy\u201d to life on a daily basis \u2026<\/p>\n

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Care\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>D.A.P. has achieved status as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)<\/p>\n

lookalike, helping to improve the medical home created to provide integrated access to medical care and other services, all under one roof. The enhanced Medicare reimbursement this provides helps to create diversity in D.A.P.\u2019s revenue stream for maintaining these essential services. A near-term goal is full-FQHC-status, to even further strengthen the funding stream.<\/p>\n

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Prevention<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Get Tested Coachella Valley<\/a> is off to a great start in rallying support for the<\/p>\n

nation\u2019s first region-wide HIV testing effort to bring about an \u201cAIDS-free generation.\u201d These efforts have been lauded by both President Bill Clinton \u2013 praising the campaign\u2019s public\/private partnership \u2013 and Sen. Barbara Boxer, who presented the Humanitarian Award to D.A.P. board chair Barbara Keller and the Vanguard Leadership Award to long-time D.A.P. supporter \u2013 and founder of D.A.P.\u2019s Partners for Life annual giving program \u2013 at the 2014 Palm Springs Equality Awards.<\/p>\n

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Advocacy<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Desert AIDS Project has been named one of the \u201cTop 20 HIV\/AIDS Charities\u201d<\/a> for<\/p>\n

both 2013 and 2014 by About.com, the largest source for expert content on the Internet, helping 85 million users each month. This is the second year About.com has assembled the list and D.A.P. was on it for both years.<\/p>\n

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They have cited Desert AIDS Project for their:<\/p>\n