December 4, 2006
Contact: Andrew Arnold
(415) 447-2412
aarnold@openhand.org
Project Open Hand Wins Special Grant from Goldman Fund
Local Agency One of 14 Organizations Funded In Recognition of 25th Anniversary of AIDS
SAN FRANCISCO: To recognize the 25th anniversary of the discovery of AIDS, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund announced it will give $1 million in special funding to 14 Bay Area AIDS organizations. Project Open Hand will receive $250,000, the largest single gift to an agency in this special Goldman grant. Formal public announcement of the grant was made on December 1st, World AIDS Day.
"Although the Goldman Fund does not regularly fund HIV/AIDS and other health issues," the Goldman Fund said in its formal statement about the awards, "the Foundation believes that this 25th year provides an excellent opportunity to highlight the ongoing fight against the disease in the Bay Area and the need for ongoing philanthropic support."
"While there have been major advancements in the prevention and treatment for HIV and AIDS in the last decade, the fight against this epidemic is far from over. Since San Francisco has been more greatly affected than other communities, we wanted to make a statement and encourage other donors to direct funds to ongoing and critical needs relating to AIDS and HIV," said Richard Goldman, founder of the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control published the first medical report about AIDS in June 1981. Today, despite widespread understanding of the disease and a variety of advanced treatments, government funding for HIV/AIDS programs continues to be cut. An estimated 30,000 people are living with HIV and AIDS in the San Francisco Bay Area, and thousands more become infected with HIV each year.
"The need for funding to HIV/AIDS services is far from over," said Tom Nolan, Executive Director of Project Open Hand. "We see that every single day as we provide meals for a diverse group of people living with the disease. As many organizations are moving on to other issues, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund sends a powerful message to other funders that HIV/AIDS should remain a priority." He estimated that the grant will allow Project Open Hand to provide an additional 140,000 meals in the coming months.
Other recipients include the AIDS Emergency Fund, American Foundation for AIDS Research, Dolores Street Community Services, Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center, Maitri, Shanti and Tenderloin Health.
Project Open Hand was founded in San Francisco in 1985 by Ruth Brinker, a retired food service manager, who began serving a nightly dinner to seven friends dying of AIDS. Today, the agency provides 2,500 bags of groceries and over 11,000 meals each week to people in need in San Francisco and Alameda County. The first agency in the U.S. to provide home-delivered meals to people with HIV/AIDS, Project Open Hand has served as a model for 150 similar agencies throughout the U.S. and worldwide. For more information, visit www.openhand.org.
Since its establishment in 1951 by San Francisco philanthropists and civic leaders Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the Goldman Fund has contributes more than $500 million to a variety of charitable causes in San Francisco, as well as nationally and internationally. For more information, go to www.goldmanfund.org
