2025 Grant Awardees & $5,000,000!

April 1, 2025

Photo Credit: Kelly Burkhardt

Philadelphia, PA – February 2025 – Philly AIDS Thrift is thrilled to announce the distribution of $358,085 in grants to 34 non-profit organizations and programs centered on HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support in the Delaware Valley.

“This is by far my favorite moment of the entire year! To be able to have such a profound impact on programs that are doing tremendous work on behalf of individuals and communities impacted by HIV/AIDS across the Delaware Valley is truly humbling,” says Philly AIDS Thrift’s Board President, Michael Byrne. “This year’s grants push us to an extraordinary milestone: over 5 million dollars donated to the cause since our inception. We are forever grateful for our staff, our volunteers, our donors, and our loyal customers – thank you sincerely from the bottom of our hearts!”

Philly AIDS Thrift’s Executive Director and Cofounder, Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou, adds, “It is amazing to all of us that we have reached this monumental milestone. Our staff and volunteers work tirelessly every day to ensure we can make the biggest difference possible in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. We could not do it without our generous donors and enthusiastic shoppers.” Philly AIDS Thrift welcomes donations of gently used items all year round, transforming them into proceeds for future grants and continued community impact.

Philly AIDS Thrift’s Grant Program began in 2014 to expand its services to the community. Since then, it has grown exponentially, awarding over 250 grants to more than 50 organizations. Even amidst economic challenges, the grant program has maintained its commitment to funding essential services in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The support provided by these grants is more vital than ever in ensuring the resilience and well-being of affected communities.

Media Articles about the grants and milestones! Thank you to all of the media outlets who shared this wonderful news!

Billy Penn at WHYY – https://billypenn.com/2025/03/06/philly-aids-thrift-5-million-donations-milestone/

MyChesCo – https://www.mychesco.com/a/news/regional/philly-aids-thrift-surpasses-5-million-in-donations-awards-358085-in-grants/

Metro Philadelphia – https://metrophiladelphia.com/philly-aids-thrift-donations/

PGN – https://epgn.com/2025/02/18/philly-aids-thrift-surpasses-5-million-in-donations/

To see all the 2025 grant recepients: visit https://www.phillyaidsthrift.com/about/

Meet Stevie Laney

March 10, 2022

Stevie Laney is a Philadelphia muralist, painter, and volunteer, who you can find helming the registers at the Philly AIDS Thrift. Visitors may recognize her Grace Jones mural, which she recently completed in-store. She has also painted the exteriors of a number of storefronts in and around Queen Village, including Gerber Accounting & Tax Services, and the South Street Art Mart, where she works full-time.

Laney has also, of late, added “publisher” to her extensive CV. She has recently launched Very, a glossy magazine of erotic art, which she hopes will offer an outlet for artists exploring the full range of that most enticing subject: the good ol’ human form. We talked to Laney about falling in love with Philly AIDS Thrift, narrowly avoiding an Instagram ban, and creating a new forum of erotic art in Philly.

 more “Meet Stevie Laney” …

Philly AIDS Thrift Announces Largest Grant Awards to Date (and a Total-Donations Milestone)

February 5, 2019

Philly AIDS Thrift (710 S. 5th Street) and Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room (12th and Pine Street) are pleased to announce their grant award winners for 2019. The $246,450.00 that has been awarded to 23 HIV/AIDS service agencies in the Philly region amounts to largest total donation the stores have ever made at one time.

Board chair Michael Byrne commented on the awards, “It’s a lot of work to run a grant awards program, but it’s very satisfying in the end. We ask that our grantees be very specific in the programs our donations will fund, so we know how needed these funds are, and what an impact they can have.”

Store co-founder and co-manager Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou noted how the amount of the awards reflected the store’s growth over the years: “We started so small back in 2005, it is hard to believe that we are giving out nearly a quarter of a million dollars at one time now. I don’t think any of us imagined that back then. We were just trying to keep the heat on and get the word out that we existed.”

Co-founder Tom Brennan added, “It’s actually a double milestone, which snuck up on us. When we hand out the checks on Thursday night, we will surpass two and a half million dollars in total donations. We knew we’d get there soon, but our grant awards total gets us there ahead of schedule. A nice surprise. We love it when we get to a big new number.”

2018 Grant Recipients:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas – CATA – Oureach Farmworker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) – PLWA Meals

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Siloam – Wellness for HIV
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PHILLY AIDS THRIFT announces over $180,000 in GRANTS for 2017!!!

March 8, 2018

Philly AIDS Thrift (PAT) is pleased to award 20 local organizations more than $180,000 in grant funding for their work in fighting HIV/AIDS in the Delaware Valley. Funds distributed brings PAT’s total contributions to date to over $2 million dollars. Revenue generated from PAT’s two retail operations (Philly AIDS Thrift and Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room) is used to provide grants to 19 organizations providing HIV/AIDS services in the Delaware Valley.

Since 2014, PAT’s board of directors and grant committee have awarded organizations with grants for projects that help fight or prevent HIV/AIDS based on the organizations’ requests.

Grants awarded ranged from $1,500 to $10,000 with an average award of $5,000. Awarded organizations were required to provide direct services for adults and children living with HIV/AIDS, must be a nonprofit (or sponsored by a non-profit organization), and must be located in the Delaware Valley (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and/or Philadelphia counties as well as the Camden, Gloucester, and Burlington counties in New Jersey, and New Castle County in Delaware).

For the 2017-18 grant cycle, Philly AIDS Thrift awarded more than double the amount of money compared to its inaugural grant awards in 2014 ($73,000).

2017 Grant Recipients: