LGBTs and allies will be looking for some Saint Patrick’s Day luck this month when they uncap their bingo dabbers at an annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser.
AIDS Fund’s 13th-annual Black-Tie Gay BINGO will be held at 6:30 p.m. March 17 at the Crystal Tea Room, 100 Penn Square East, ninth floor.
The formal version of the organization’s monthly bingo event will raise money for a number of HIV/AIDS causes that AIDS Fund supports. Organizers are hoping the event will net $30,000-$35,000.
AIDS Fund executive director Robb Reichard said planning for the event began in the fall and, this year, the organization was able to secure the Crystal Tea Room for a Saturday night — as opposed to the usual Friday affair — which he expects will prompt more supporters to attend.
Reichard said last year’s corporate sponsors, including presenting sponsor PECO, all returned, and this year AIDS Fund was also able to secure sponsorship from Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis.
The evening will feature dinner, drinks, dancing, a silent auction and six rousing games of bingo led by the crowd favorite Bingo Verifying Divas.
AIDS Fund will also present its annual awards to individuals and organizations who have supported its mission.
Its Founders’ Award this year will go to the William Way LGBT Community Center.
“The goal of the Founders’ Award is to recognize people or a group of people who come together and fight HIV/AIDS in a unique way,” Reichard said. “William Way is a perfect example of that. HIV/AIDS is not their primary mission but they provide space in their building for groups that work on HIV/AIDS issues, and they provide space for testing. That synergy of the partnerships between all of these nonprofits is critical in today’s world.”
AIDS Fund is one of the many local nonprofits whose offices are headquartered at the center.
Last year — to mark AIDS Fund’s 25th anniversary and the 30th year of the epidemic — AIDS Fund created an archival display at William Way, which Reichard said the center was integral in helping to organize.
“William Way was the prime sponsor of the display, and the staff, particularly Candice [Thompson, director of center services], was incredibly helpful in advising us and opening up the archives at the center for us to consult,” he said. “So we wanted to recognize all the support they’ve given us and the community.”
Chris Bartlett, executive director of the center, said the board, staff and volunteers of the agency are “greatly honored” to receive the award.
“From the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, the community center and AIDS Fund have been partners in the effort to promote the health and well-being of people living with HIV, their family and friends,” he said. “We deeply appreciate the acknowledgement of our multi-decade partnership.”
The “Favorite Straight Person of the Year” award will be presented to Lorraine Ballard Morrill, news and community affairs director for Clear Channel Radio’s six local stations. Ballard Morrill produced a pioneering series on HIV/AIDS on Power 99 in the early ’80s and has been a strong ally of the community and AIDS Fund since.
Garry Stover and Steve Terrill will receive the Ferrara Family Volunteer awards.
Stover began walking in the organization’s AIDS Walk Philly in 1993 on behalf of his friend, Albert Radzavies, who was battling the disease.
Radzavies, who once worked at AIDS Fund, died in 1995 and Stover, as a registered nurse who also has his commercial driver’s license, went on to volunteer each year to rent, load, unload and drive the trucks that help with the production of the event.
“I promised Albert I would help with AIDS Walk Philly until HIV/AIDS was over,” he said. “It is important to me to continue this fight in his memory.”
Terrill, a paramedic student, began volunteering in 1997, when he was in seventh grade, and has missed only one walk since.
He has pitched in on everything from the food tent to setting up stations along the route.
“AIDS Walk Philly is the major volunteer effort I make time for in my life, and I like that my experience has allowed me to meet people from all walks of life I would otherwise never encounter,” Terrill said. “AIDS Fund is the only charity I support, and being involved is a good way to help the community.”
Reichard said the evening’s array of activities make for an exciting and rewarding night out.
“It’s a really great opportunity to go out with friends and have a good time while helping to raise money,” he said. “With it being on St. Patrick’s Day this year, we’ll be doing some different things with that, and the BVDs just make the evening really unique and special.”
Tickets to Black-Tie Gay BINGO are $150 and can be purchased at www.aidsfundphilly.org or by calling 215-731-9255.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].