August 2018

Dear Friend and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Donor:

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS through our online Annual Report for fiscal year 2017 (October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2017).

In today’s tumultuous political climate, Broadway Cares is more committed than ever to sharing your generosity with people in need within the theatre community and across the country. As people’s basic human rights become increasingly at risk, we are endlessly grateful for your support and are dedicated to helping the most vulnerable among us lead healthy, dignified lives.

Because of your help, in fiscal year 2017 we provided support to 461 HIV/AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC. Our National Grants Program assisted food banks and meal delivery programs, health clinics, housing programs and more.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has also continued to offer a safety net to our friends and champions in the entertainment community through The Actors Fund. We support The Fund’s essential social service programs, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative, the Artists Health Information Resource Center, Addiction and Recovery Services, The Career Center, The Dancers’ Resource and The Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts. With your support, everyone in the industry has access to the vital, lifesaving services The Actors Fund provides.

Broadway Cares’ support for the programs of The Actors Fund reached $5.5 million in fiscal year 2017, while our National Grants Program awarded $6.7 million to AIDS and family service organizations nationwide.

Thank you for your support, and here’s to another successful year of making a difference for those who need help the most.

Sincerely,

Paul Libin, President

Tom Viola, Executive Director

Paul Libin, President

Tom Viola, Executive Director

Every day, Renata Marinaro sees the uncertainty, unease and fearfulness firsthand. It wears heavy on the faces of the men and women seeking help and guidance from the social service programs of The Actors Fund.

“Clients are anxious about losing their coverage due to the continuous attacks on the Affordable Care Act,” Marinaro, director of health services for The Actors Fund, said. “People are asking if they’ll still be able to get help, and, if so, will they be able to afford it?”

Thanks in large part to the generosity of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ supporters, The Actors Fund remains a solid foundation of support in shifting ground.

For 135 years, The Actors Fund has provided a safety net of services to the entertainment industry, taking into account the unique challenges involved with a life in the arts. Still, the current political climate has made many performing arts professionals nervous about the state of much-needed programs and services.

The collaborative relationship between Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund began three decades ago. This partnership has allowed our fundraising success to contribute directly to the vital programs The Fund provides to all professionals in the entertainment community. In fiscal year 2017, Broadway Cares again was proud to be the single largest financial supporter of The Actors Fund’s social service programs.

Since 1988, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has granted more than $89 million to The Actors Fund to support these vital initiatives and programs.

In fiscal year 2017, Broadway Cares awarded $5.5 million to The Actors Fund.

Support for The Actors Fund

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS also supported The Stage Managers’ Project with a grant of $150,000 for the print and online version of The New York Stage Managers Unofficial Health Directory, as well as $37,000 for The Actors Fund annual gala, memorial donations, benefit support and other smaller donations. There was also a one-time gift of $150,000 to support The Actors Fund clients in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico in response to the hurricanes that devastated the regions.

Through our partnership with The Actors Fund, Broadway Cares has touched the lives of thousands of entertainment professionals living with HIV/AIDS or coping with a variety of other health issues, emergencies and challenges.

Coralina, an actor living in New York City, turned to The Actors Fund’s weekly health care seminars for a sense of direction.

“In a way, I felt like a lost ship, and I didn’t know what to do,” Coralina said. “The Actors Fund was the North Star in a way that brought me to safety, allowing me to navigate better as an artist, and as a human being.”

For more information about The Actors Fund, visit actorsfund.org.

 
During these troubling times when access to health care continues to be threatened, individuals with HIV, AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses increasingly are turning to social service organizations for vital assistance. When those in need live in remote areas, accessing these crucial resources becomes even more difficult.

For Kaylee and her son, Dawson, who live in rural Alaska, obtaining anything from medication to everyday items is a challenge. “It’s not just the HIV medicine,” Kaylee explained. “It’s getting transportation to cities for checkups and routine surgeries. It’s having food on the table for my son. When you live far from everything, it gets so much harder.”

Recognizing the unique challenges of Kaylee and others living in isolated regions, Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association in Anchorage assists clients across 91 percent of a state that’s twice as large as Texas. The association offers a range of services, including a telephone hotline, financial assistance, vital supplies for local organizations and paying for medical visits to Anchorage or Juneau.

“After helping me get to Anchorage for a routine medical procedure, my son and I returned home to find a backpack full of school supplies and four boxes of healthy food for while I recovered,” Kaylee said.

In fiscal year 2017, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awarded nearly $12.9 million in grants. Of that, more than $6.7 million was awarded to AIDS and family service providers across the country through the National Grants program.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awards its national grants in three rounds. The first round funds food service and meal delivery programs, which are essential for lifesaving medical regimens to have a lasting impact. The second round provides grants to nationally recognized AIDS service organizations, health clinics and advocacy organizations.

The third round supports social service organizations whose essential work enhances the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS and supports the integrity of families, by every definition of the word, who live each day with the multiple challenges of this disease. This grant round covers four categories: Direct Services; Emergency Financial Assistance; Harm Reduction Programs and Quality of Life Services.
 
 

2017 National Grants

 
Thanks to organizations fueled by Broadway Cares’ grants, individuals like Kaylee and hundreds of thousands of others like her, are able to receive the basic care they deserve.

“I’m not sure where I’d be today without that assistance,” Kaylee said. “I am so thankful people care enough to help me.”

View a complete list of our 2017 national grantees by state

2017 National Grantees by State

Please use the drop-down box below to view all the agencies BC/EFA funded in Fiscal Year 2017 by state.

 
International actors and Broadway shows originating overseas have long been participating in Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ twice-yearly audience appeals. They are valued and crucial fundraisers for the organization. To celebrate their efforts, Broadway Cares grants a portion of the funds they help raise to HIV/AIDS service organizations in their native countries.

These international charities are chosen and introduced to Broadway Cares by the company members who inspired the donation. Once the organization’s charitable status has been confirmed by Broadway Cares, a grant on behalf of the company is donated abroad.

In fiscal year 2017, Broadway Cares made grants to international organizations totaling $592,800 to AIDS service organizations outside the United States.

A key focus for Broadway Cares’ international grants round is South Africa. The incidence of HIV/AIDS in South Africa remains among the highest in the world as 7 million people live with the disease. It’s a reality that continues to hit close to the heart for many in the cast of Disney’s acclaimed production of The Lion King. As natives of South Africa, they’ve seen the epidemic’s toll first-hand in their hometowns and villages.

Inspired by The Lion King‘s enthusiastic fundraising efforts, more than $4.7 million has been awarded in grants to South African HIV/AIDS organizations since The Lion King opened on Broadway. In 2017, $388,800 was shared with 18 service providers identified by the South African actors in the Broadway and national touring companies of The Lion King. As the AIDS pandemic continues to devastate this region, funding for South African organizations will remain a priority for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The support for the Actors Fund of Canada is fueled by the incredible national touring productions throughout Canada that fundraise for Broadway Cares.

2017 International Grants

Angels are donors who support Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS with unrestricted gifts of $1,000 or more during a single fiscal year. These gifts are especially notable as they are a unique, special core of donors whose gifts were not in relation to the purchase of merchandise or event tickets. These generous donations directly fund Broadway Cares’ grants, which are ultimately distributed to the vital social service programs of The Actors Fund and HIV/AIDS service organizations in all 50 states.

In Broadway terms, an “angel” is an investor in a theatre production. In exchange for the financial investment, angels are historically given the best seats in the house as the show could not exist without their contribution. The Angels Circle creates a similar tradition, granting Broadway Cares Angels VIP status within the organization, along with numerous additional benefits.

In addition to the Angels Circle, significant funds are generated through various BC/EFA annual and one-time special events, such as Easter Bonnet Competition, Gypsy of the Year, Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction, Broadway Bares and Broadway Backwards. Considerable financial support also comes to us through our Care-Tix and CareCard programs. Contributions from all these sources are vital to Broadway Cares.

The names below are those who have supported Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS  with contributions of $1,000 or more during our fiscal year 2017, from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017.

Names in bold indicate Archangels, donors who have increased their gift by 25 percent or more over the past year.
 

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is fortunate to have the continued support of a broad range of corporate partners.

CORPORATE PARTNERS

CORPORATE SPONSORS

As one of the largest nonprofits representing American theatre and the ninth-largest AIDS grant-making organization in the world, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS connects major corporate brands with one of the nation’s foremost creative industries and our most loyal supporters. We also are able to ensure that a corporation’s support reaches into communities across the country through our National Grants Program. Our corporate Partners are able to build brand loyalty among millions of people associated with Broadway – onstage, backstage and in the audience – as well as those passionate about helping those living with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses.

Companies can work with Broadway Cares on a broad range of projects, including annual partnerships, event sponsorship, cash and in-kind donations that directly support our programs and specialized, cause-related marketing.

We salute the generous companies that provide major support of our programs.

The Colleen Dewhurst Society is the planned giving arm of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, honoring those who have included Broadway Cares in their estate plan or will.

The society is named for the late Colleen Dewhurst, the Tony Award-winning actress and past president of Actors’ Equity Association. She pioneered the formation of the Equity Fights AIDS Committee, which merged with Broadway Cares in 1992 to become the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS of today.

“I’m so proud of what we do for each other. There are so many people who thought this thing would never go. That it couldn’t be done. But it happened anyway because so many people came forward and, in many different ways, made it happen. And to this very day, I love you all for that.”

– Colleen Dewhurst, June 1991

Colleen’s legacy will forever reflect her love for the theatre community and boundless compassion for the disadvantaged and underprivileged, as well as her incredible vision for AIDS fundraising within the Broadway community.

Joining the Colleen Dewhurst Society allows Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS supporters to create their own legacy of benevolence towards the most vulnerable for years to come.

For more information about the Colleen Dewhurst Society, contact Sarah Cardillo, Senior Development Officer, at 212.840.0770, ext. 275, or cardillo@broadwaycares.org.

In fiscal year 2017, gifts to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS were received from the following estates.

Estate of Marie Becker
Estate of Dolores Gray Crevolin
Estate of Dr. Vincent Gambino
Estate of Reverend Richard Mietzelfeld
Estate of Richard D. Overton
Estate of Gerald L. Ritholz and Ray Jarvis

The following people have provided for an estate or other planned gift to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

We salute our many friends and colleagues who are no longer with us and left planned gifts to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Officers

Paul Libin, President
Robert E. Wankel, Executive Vice President
Ira Mont, First Vice President
Thomas Schumacher, Second Vice President
Mary McColl, Third Vice President
Sherry Cohen, Fourth Vice President
Philip Birsh, Treasurer
Judith Rice, Secretary

Trustees

As of October 2017

At the October 19, 2017, meeting of the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Board of Trustees, those in attendance presented Joe Benincasa, executive director of The Actors Fund, with a check for $5,537,000, representing Broadway Cares’ support in the fiscal year 2017.

Tom Viola, Executive Director
Lane Beauchamp, Director of Communications
Larry Cook, Director of Finance & Administration
Valerie Lau-Kee Lai, Producing Director
Danny Whitman, Director of Development