August 2019

Dear Friend and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Supporter:

In a moment in history defined by heartbreaking headlines and vitriolic political leaders, it can often feel difficult to do good and make an impact. However, taking a moment to look back and reflect on all we accomplished during this past fiscal year is a welcome reminder of the unflappable and vital support of the theatre community and our supporters, and the incredible difference you’ve made.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS through our online Annual Report for fiscal year 2018 (October 1, 2017 – September 30, 2018). Throughout the past fiscal year, through record-breaking annual events, audience appeals and fundraising efforts, Broadway Cares is more committed than ever to sharing your incredible generosity with people in need within the theatre community and across the country.

Because of your help, in fiscal year 2018 we provided support to 471 HIV/AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, supporting food banks and meal delivery programs, health clinics, housing programs and more.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS continues to offer a safety net to our friends and colleagues in the entertainment community through The Actors Fund. We support The Actors 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. In 2018, Broadway Cares expanded its support to include The Actors Fund’s Safe Workplace Initiative, senior care services and Looking Ahead, a program offering services for young performers. With your support, everyone in the industry has access to The Actors Fund’s lifesaving services.

In total, Broadway Cares’ support for the programs of The Actors Fund reached $5.9 million in fiscal year 2018, while our National Grants Program awarded $7.3 million to social and medical service organizations nationwide.

Thank you, in the middle of this unsettling time in our nation’s history, for continuing to prove that what we do together makes a difference.

Sincerely,

Robert E. Wankel, President

Tom Viola, Executive Director

Robert E. Wankel, President

Tom Viola, Executive Director

The life of an entertainment professional is often romanticized, but when it comes to having comprehensive and affordable health care, the industry can be unreliable. “It’s a great business, except when it’s not,” lamented Broadway stalwart Ann Harada.

Harada was among a group of Broadway luminaries who recently underscored the importance of the safety net provided by the vital social service programs of The Actors Fund and funded by supporters of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

“They are our safe place,” actor Wesley Taylor said. Two-time Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin added, “They are completely essential to our community.”

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the single largest financial supporter of these indispensable programs. What started as support for The Actors Fund to help those living with HIV/AIDS get financial assistance and essential case management has grown to include a wide spectrum of support for everyone in “the business,” reflecting the evolving needs of professionals in the industry.

2018 marked the 30th year of Broadway Cares’ support of the programs of The Actors Fund. Since 1988, Broadway Cares and The Actors Fund have remained committed to providing a helping hand and supportive shoulder to everyone in the entertainment industry and performing arts when they’re in a time of need, crisis or transition.

Since 1988, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has granted more than $94 million to The Actors Fund to support these vital initiatives and programs.
In fiscal year 2018, Broadway Cares awarded $5.9 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 $100,000 for the print and online version of The New York Stage Managers Unofficial Health Directory, as well as $96,575 for The Actors Fund annual gala, memorial donations, benefit support and other smaller donations.

“We are proud stewards of this support,” The Actors Fund Chief Executive Office Joe Benincasa said. “How Broadway Cares inspires our community is absolutely miraculous and it makes The Fund’s good work possible.”

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

 
Even with today’s medication and treatment options, the burden of living with HIV/AIDS can weigh heavy on those with living the disease. This stress is intensified when the individual lives in regions plagued by stigma and a lack of open conversation about the disease.

In rural Alabama, an area where shame toward HIV/AIDS runs rampant, a lack of acceptance and tolerance creates a toxic environment for HIV-positive residents.

“Stigma is a big issue in a rural community because you have close-knit communities where everyone knows everybody’s business,” said Robbie Hines, a medical case manager at Health Services Center in Anniston, Alabama. “We have patients who travel from Chambers County, which is two hours away. They come all the way to Anniston just so they don’t have to be in their community to receive treatment.”

For Hines’ clients and similar individuals across the country, services from organizations fueled by grants from Broadway Cares allows clients to live with dignity and a vital support system.

In fiscal year 2018, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awarded $7.3 million to AIDS and family service providers 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.

In addition to the three grant rounds, Broadway Cares shared a series of one-off support throughout the year, including emergency grants and grants to theatre community service organizations, research and Physician Volunteers for the Arts. Additionally, a special grant was made to the Hispanic Federation in response to the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
 

2018 National Grants

 
“Imagine if you’ve come to a clinic and have been given a chronic diagnosis but you have nothing,” Hines said. “You have nowhere to live, you need medication or food, and your community has turned its back on you. The services you’re providing by supporting Broadway Cares are changing so many lives for the better.”

2018 National Grantees by State

Please use the drop-down box below to view all the agencies BC/EFA funded in Fiscal Year 2018 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 2018, Broadway Cares made grants to international organizations totaling $461,000 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 $5.1 million has been awarded in grants to South African HIV/AIDS organizations since The Lion King opened on Broadway. In 2018, $418,500 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

2018 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 2018, from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018.

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

*Indicates members of the DRA Angels Circle
**Indicates members of the Broadway Cares and DRA Angels Circle

As of September 30, 2018

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 charities representing Broadway and the American theatre and the ninth-largest AIDS grant-making organization in the world, BC/EFA is able to connect major corporate brands with one of the nation’s foremost creative industries and our most loyal supporters. We are also able to ensure that a corporation’s support reaches into nearly every community in the country through our National Grants Program. Our Corporate Partners are able to build brand loyalty among millions of people associated with Broadway, be it on tour, onstage, backstage or in the audience and those passionate about the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Companies can partner with BC/EFA on a broad range of projects, including annual partnership, event sponsorship, cash and in-kind donations that directly support our programs and specialized, cause-related marketing.

With the creation of Broadway Delivers! in 2001 a new way for Broadway Cares and corporations to work together was born. Many of the events that BC/EFA produced through Broadway Delivers were originally produced for existing corporate clients such as Anheuser-Busch and Target, bringing new corporations into the Broadway Cares family.

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

The Colleen Dewhurst Society is the planned giving program 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

Dewhurst’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 for the most vulnerable for years to come

In fiscal year 2018, gifts to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS were received from the following estates.

Estate of Kenneth Scott Kasman
Estate of Linda Lipson
Estate of Christine Plath
Estate of Katherine Schrier

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

Robert E. Wankel, president
Thomas Schumacher, executive vice president
Ira Mont, first vice president
Mary McColl, second vice president
Sherry Cohen, third vice president
Philip Birsh, treasurer
Judith Rice, secretary

Paul Libin, president emeritus

Trustees

As of October 2018

At the October 2018 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 $5,896,575, representing Broadway Cares’ support in the fiscal year 2018.

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