20TH ANNUAL ACADEMY OF FRIENDS
OSCAR NIGHT GALA
SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2000

Academy of Friends (AOF) announces its 20th Annual Oscar Night Gala will take place Sunday, March 26, 2000 at a new venue, the eastside of the Concourse Exhibition Center on 7th Street at Brannan. The event will start a 5:00 P.M.

The Oscar Night Gala is the Bay Area’s spectacular celebration of Hollywood’s most glamorous night of the year. This sell-out event is the largest HIV/AIDS Oscar party fundraiser in the Bay Area and the second largest Oscar party in the country, surpassed in attendance only by the official Oscar party in Los Angeles!

Tickets are now on sale at www.academyoffriends.org; by mail to Academy of Friends (2261 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94114); or by phone at 415/995-9890. Tickets are also available at the Academy of Friends ticket office at Under One Roof (549 Castro Street, San Francisco) Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sundays 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Details of the Event:

While watching the awards ceremony from multiple levels, and feasting on food and wine from the Bay Area’s finest restaurants, caterers and vintners, Gala patrons will be taken on a “Timewalk.” This walk through time begins in ancient Alexandria – the site of the first and largest millennium celebration in 1000 AD – and ends up with a futuristic display that allows patrons to envision their own views of the future. In keeping with the “Timewalk” theme, one of this year’s highlights will be a video retrospective. Featuring clips from the past 20 years of Academy Award winning movies and songs, the video takes viewers on a historical look at the impact AIDS has had on the world as well as other significant events that have touched our lives over the past two decades.

One of the highlights of the Gala is the Silent Auction, which over the years has become one of the best places to find incredible deals on everything from home furnishings to trips, from objects d’ arte to clothing from the finest Bay Area stores.Ê For this year’s Opportunity Drawing for three exciting trips, United Airlines has donated airfare to Hong Kong, New York and Seattle. Each trip includes exclusive hotel accommodations and either dinner, a shopping spree or theater tickets. The winners will be announced the night of the event.

For the fifth year, BMW of San Francisco has generously donated a new car to the fundraiser. This year one lucky winner will drive away in a new 2000 Z3 Roadster.Ê Only 1,000 opportunities for this raffle are available and it sells out every year.Ê BMW raffle tickets can be purchased by contacting the Academy of Friends office and on the web site, www.academyoffriends.org.

What began as a small, private party in 1980 is now one of the largest non-profit contributors to a wide spectrum of Bay Area HIV/AIDS service providers. Proceeds from last year’s Annual Academy of Friends Oscar Night Gala and their grant making collaboration with AT&T together totaled over $400,000 in funding to local Bay Area non-profit HIV/AIDS organizations.

Using the theme Academy of Friends C.A.R.E.S., AOF has chosen the occasion of the 20th anniversary to honor agencies in the Bay Area that have demonstrated 15 years or more of leadership in the HIV/AIDS service arena. C.A.R.E.S. grants will include agencies that are Caring for those affected, Advocating for compassionate treatment, Responding to emerging needs in communities of color, Educating and preventing new infections and Serving our community with volunteer efforts that have provided millions of hours of volunteer support. According to AOF Chairman of the Board, Debra Kent, “It is AOF’s honor and privilege to be able to assist the organizations with these grants, which is in keeping with our mission to provide resources to the people and programs that are making a difference in our community.”Ê In recognition of the tremendous losses to our community, AOF is also making a special gift of remembrance to The National AIDS Memorial Grove.Ê “The Grove reminds us that the epidemic is not over and we cannot become complacent,” said Kent.

Proceeds from the 2000 Gala will benefit eight Bay Area AIDS organizations: UCSF AIDS Health Project, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, AIDS Resource, Information and Services (ARIS), Black Coalition on AIDS, Project Inform, Shanti, Stop AIDS Project and The National AIDS Memorial Grove. (See attached for more information.)

The 20th Annual Academy of Friends Oscar Night Gala’s glamorous evening is presented by AT&T, BMW of San Francisco, Nordstrom, and United Airlines.Ê Major sponsors are Blockbuster, Chevron, Robertson Stephens and Wells Fargo Bank. The Associate sponsors are Browne Zukow Associates, Chivas Regal, Pacific Guarantee Mortgage, KMS, Propecia, Taste, Tully’s Coffee. and Whole Foods Market. di Pietro Todd, Laurent Perrier and Pacific Union Residential Brokerage are also sponsors. Media sponsors include ABC 7, The Advocate, Eller Media, Genre, Girlfriends, JC Decaux, MODA, Nob Hill Gazette, Outdoor Systems, Q SF, Queery, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Frontiers, San Francisco Magazine and TDI.

Tickets are now on sale at www.academyoffriends.org; by mail to Academy of Friends, (2261 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94114) or by phone at 415/995-9890. Tickets are available at the Academy of Friends ticket office at Under One Roof (549 Castro Street, San Francisco) Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sundays 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
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Descriptions of the agencies benefiting from the 20th Annual Academy of Friends gala are as follows:

An agency that Cares for affected, the UCSF AIDS Health Project of San Francisco serves 10,000 people each year by providing culturally sensitive counseling and education to stop the spread of HIV infections and helps people face the emotional, psychological and social challenges of living with HIV disease.

Project Inform has been Advocating for compassionate treatment since 1985 when reliable information about HIV/AIDS was nearly impossible to obtain. This national, community-based organization provides accurate, up-to-date treatment information about HIV-infected individuals, their caregivers and their healthcare and service providers.

Two local AIDS organizations have been selected for their work in Responding to the emerging needs in communities of color. For 15 years, the Black Coalition on AIDS (BCA) has led the fight against AIDS in the San Francisco Black Community by providing housing, treatment and prevention services. AIDS Resources, Information and Services (ARIS) is the primary organization providing HIV prevention, community education, and other practical and emotional support services in San Jose and the Silicon Valley.

Educating and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS has been the mission of the Stop AIDS Project since 1984.Ê A pioneer and model for HIV prevention activities worldwide, STOP AIDS is a community organizing project for gay and bisexual men in San Francisco that seeks to reduce HIV-transmission and lessen the adverse effects of the HIV epidemic on the community.

Service awards will be given to two organizations, SHANTI and the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. Since 1984 SHANTI staff and volunteers have served people with HIV/AIDS through programs such as caregiver and bereavement counseling, transportation and activities and peer advocacy. The AIDS Legal Referral Panel provides legal services to people with HIV, empowers the community through legal education and protects and advances the rights of people with HIV through public policy advocacy.