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:
- AccessMatters – SheMatters
- Action Wellness (formerly ActionAIDS) – Michael Taylor Fund
- AIDS Delaware – Food Pantry
- AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania – Essential Document Legal Clinic
- Attic Youth Center – MPower; Outreach; Education; Mentoring; Internships; Testing
- Bebashi Transition to Hope – Get Heard
- Camp Dreamcatcher – Camp 15
- Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas – CATA – Oureach Farmworker
- Drexel University – Camp
- Family Service of Chester County –Project One
- Family Service of Montgomery County – Transport and Insurance reimburse
- GALAEI – Project YEAH
- LGBT Elder Initiative – HIV&Aging
- One Day At A Time – Transportation Services
- MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) – PLWA Meals
- Mazzoni Center – Trip Project
- Neighborhood United – Public Awareness Campaign
- Preventing HIV Project – Care Incentives
- Prevention Point Philadelphia – Syringe Exchange
- RHD Morris Home – Housing Support
- Siloam – Wellness for HIV