|
(November 18, 1996) Big Bear Lake, California--Top snowboarding and skateboarding pros, as well as stars from the entertainment industry, will converge on Bear Mountain Ski Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, March 14-15, 1997, to participate in Board AID IV for LIFEbeat. Sponsored by Warp magazine and Airwalk, the event is a benefit for LIFEbeat, the music-industry AIDS organization. Like past Board AIDs, which have featured performances and appearances by Porno for Pyros, The Beastie Boys, Seal, Bad Religion, 311, Sublime, Helmet, face to face, 7 Year Bitch, Unwritten Law, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Anthrax, Wax, and House of Pain, this year's Board AID IV will host two days of concerts on the mountain, along with demonstrations from top pros on the skateboard halfpipe and snowboard halfpipe and other snow events. A festival area will include vendors from board-sport-lifestyle companies and representatives from local AIDS service organizations. Once again, MTV will cover the event on the hill and on stage. Proceeds from Board AID IV--raised through ticket sales, a percentage of lift-ticket sales, and the sale of Board AID event T-shirts, stickers, and other merchandise--will be donated to LIFEbeat. AIDS is the sixth leading killer of teenagers and the number-one killer of all Americans age 25 to 44, many of whom were infected with HIV while in their teens. Board AID IV is an important opportunity for LIFEbeat to reach this population with lifesaving educational information in a setting they can relate to and understand. Funds raised through the event will be granted to AIDS service organizations for programs dealing specifically with teens and young adults. Funds raised through past Board AID events were administered through LIFEbeat's Joey DiPaolo Fund, which has distributed over 360,000 dollars to teen-oriented HIV/AIDS programs. Joey, a seventeen-year-old HIV-positive AIDS activist, has participated in Board AID since its inception. Past Board AID beneficiaries include AIDS Resource Center in New York; AIDS Task Force of Philadelphia; Health Crisis Network of Miami; Los Angeles Free Clinic; Metro Teen AIDS in Washington D.C.; Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP) in Ferndale, Michigan; New York Peer AIDS Education Coalition; Project VIDA in Chicago; Youth Services of Tulsa,Oklahoma; and Zona Seca in Santa Barbara, California. LIFEbeat was founded in 1992 by record executive Daniel Glass and late music-industry manager/promoter Bob Caviano. LIFEbeat's mission began a year after Caviano was diagnosed with AIDS. All that he faced--massive medical costs, health insurance red tape, and constant fears and prejudices of others--spurred him on to change things. Caviano's searing commentary in an issue of Billboard called for the formation of an entertainment-industry-based organization that would offer assistance to people within its ranks who are struggling with AIDS. Taking full advantage of his vast business contacts, Caviano created a network of support, one that resulted in LIFEbeat. Today, LIFEbeat, headed up by Executive Director Tim Rosta, is comprised of a board of directors from the music industry's most powerful companies, including Universal Records President Daniel Glass, MTV President Judy McGrath, VH-1 President John Sykes, as well as model/writer Veronica Webb, and others. LIFEbeat donates the money it raises to preexisting AIDS organizations, among them The Actor's Fund of America, AIDS Initiative of New York, Cure AIDS Now in Miami, God's Love We Deliver in New York, and Food and Friends in Washington D.C. Board AID was created by Fran Richards, TransWorld Publications' associate publisher, and LIFEbeat. The event merges LIFEbeat's access to credible musicians appealing to young people with Warp's audience of board-sports enthusiasts. "We felt that Board AID was the most credible and important way to educate our teen world about the dangers of HIV and AIDS. They respect the musicians and athletes involved in the project, and that makes our mission and message more important and real," said Richards.
For additional information, contact: |
|
|