Friday, July 4, 2008
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AIDS Walk 2008 Careteam's AIDS Walk is a fun way to raise awareness about HIV and raise money to support the services we provide. It's easy, fun and everyone is welcome to participate. You will be hearing from us soon when we mail registration and sponsorship forms. If you haven't received mail from us before be sure to call our office (236-9000) or use our on-line contact form and give us your address. Until then go ahead and start planning.
So,start planning now. It's going to be our best AIDS Walk ever and you can help make that happen. See you there! Johanna
Dining With Friends 2008 a tremendous success! This year we had over 17 parties and we still have 2 more to go! It has been so much fun to watch the excitement over this event from party hosts to volunteers. Everyone worked hard and we had a great time doing it. Thank you so much to everyone. This Dining With Friends was one of the best events ever!Several party hosts had a friendly competition going on to see who could raise the most money. Everyone was trying to raise more than our Top Host last year, John covington and Robert Lukey. While John and Robert still hold the most money raised position our Top Hosts this year came very close. Congratulations and a very big THANK YOU goes to Gene Broyles and Danille DelPercio. Their party raised $9600! Gene and Danille played a big part in helping us raise $50,000 this year. They worked hard, had fun and squeezed money from everyone they knew. They were not alone. We had Hosts from years past come back to Host again. We had new Hosts join us bringing new friends with them. Whether your party raised $90 or $9000, every party, every dollar, every supporter and every gift counted. We could not have done this without all of you. Thank you ALL! As we wind down and rest up from this year's successful event its not too early to start planning for next year. Start compiling your guest list, planning your menu and mark your calendars now for April 25, 2009! We hope to see you all again next year! Thankfully,
Johanna Haynes, Executive Director
Dining With Friends 2008 It is easy and fun. It is a great event that invites Careteam’s friends and supporters on all levels to participate. Please take a few minutes to learn more about the event and consider joining us this year by hosting your own Dining With Friends dinner party. We are excited about this year’s Dining With Friends and with your help we are looking forward to a very successful fundraising event.Mark your calendars now for April 26th. Over the past few years Careteam has experienced an incredible roller coaster ride of our federal funding. We have survived and we are wiser for the experience. The staff and Board of Directors have learned a very valuable lesson; we cannot depend solely on federal funding to take care of our clients. With that in mind we have initiated a challenging financial development goal. We expect that in five years 1/3 of our budget, $350,000 will come from fundraising events and annual giving programs. That is a tall order for a handful of faithful supporters. It is not so difficult for a community of supporters. The easiest way for our Dining With Friends event to raise more money is to have more parties. Last year, we had 13 parties and raised almost $44,000. You can do the math. Double the number of parties, double the amount we raise. The other way to increase the amount of money we raise is to increase the number of businesses who Sponsor the event. Please check out the Sponsorship Levels information included with this letter. If you own your business, consider Sponsoring Dining With Friends 2008. If you have friends who are business owners, please pass this opportunity along to them. We need your help today. If you’ve hosted a party for us in the past you know how it works. If not, don’t worry. It’s easy; your friends, your home, your menu, followed by a fun filled After Party Celebration. We supply the party invitations for you to mail to your guest list. The invitation will let your friends know that this is a fundraising event for Careteam. You do not have to ask for money. If they are coming to your party they know they are being asked to contribute. It doesn’t matter if your party raises $300 or $10,000. Every party is important in helping us reach our goal. Won’t you please join Careteam’s list of family and friends who participate in Dining With Friends 2008. Call our office today for details and to request your invitations. Thank you again for your faithful support.
Sincerely,
You are our family! During a year of significant federal funding shortages, your generosity was essential for our clients’ healthcare and made our job easier. We appreciate your continued support of our agency and the clients we serve.This year Careteam served nearly 500 people living with HIV. For less than $2,000 per person, Careteam ensured that each one had access to medical care and treatment for their HIV Disease regardless of their ability to pay for that care. Over 240 of those clients had inadequate or no insurance coverage. For those clients, Careteam paid for their HIV Medical Care appointments, standard laboratory tests and medications that were not available from any other source. Over 200 people who were at risk for HIV infection received free and confidential testing. Over 800 people have received HIV education and counseling. Careteam has continued to build partnerships with local churches to help raise awareness of HIV in our African American communities and we have added new provider partnerships to help ensure that our clients get the best possible healthcare. This year brought challenges as well. For fifteen long months, South Carolina had the longest AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list in the nation. At times this meant treatment delays for clients. This crisis created increased burden on case managers who were already strapped with large case loads due to funding cuts the year before and increased costs to Careteam who is responsible for purchasing medications while clients wait for drug assistance. At the same time, we were experiencing the largest federal funding shortage since the initiation of the Ryan White CARE Act in 1993. In May of this year, our state legislature came to the rescue and budgeted 3 million dollars for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Today we are happy to announce there is no ADAP waiting list for South Carolina. We cannot thank our local Representatives enough for hearing our need and responding so quickly. While you celebrate the holidays please know that we are celebrating you. Your support is needed and very much appreciated. As you finalize your year-end gifts please think again of us. Thank you for all you do for Careteam and our community.
Happy Holidays!
World AIDS Day 2007 Fifteen years ago, HIV was a death sentence. We all know that. Just about everyone knows someone who has died from conditions resulting from HIV. World AIDS Day started as a time to remember those we had lost to AIDS and to remind us all that continued research and treatment was a must. Since then, great strides have been made in the treatment of HIV Disease. The number of people who are dying as a result of this disease has decreased. December 1st, we celebrate that fact. We also continue to remember those we've lost because although treatment is very good, people still die from complications associated with HIV.This year, there are several groups hosting World AIDS Day activities. One event in particular that I want to point out is the Opening Ceremony for the AIDS Quilt at the Center Project, 12 noon on December 1st. The Red Ribbon Friends organization has paid to have several panels of the AIDS Quilt from Washington DC to be displayed here in Myrtle Beach. Seeing the panels, joining the ceremony is a very moving experience. I hope you will make a special effort to add to your World AIDS Day schedule a visit the Center Project from December 1st - 7th to experience the Quilt. This is an experience you won't want to miss. Here is a list of other activities. We hope you will join us at one or more of these events.
November 29th
2007 AIDS Walk and Festival a great success! We had a very nice turnout (about 225 walkers), exceptional weather (though very warm, it didn't rain!)and a host of terrific performers to entertain us. Thank you everyone who walked, made donations, sponsored the event and volunteered to help make our event a great success! Thanks to you, we raised over $11,000 and more donations are coming in this week.Special thanks goes out to all of our volunteers, the students of HGTC Dental Hygeine school, the Conway Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, members of St. Michael Catholic Church's AIDS Ministry, and many others. We would also like to thank our local muscians who volunteered their time, Margaret Curry, Joe Moyer, Duke Tinnes, Acousitic Johnny, Houndog Hansen, Rachael Ayers, Gabby Rae and the Broadway Juniors. Last but certainly not least, please remember our sponsors with your patronage: Waccamaw Cardiology (although we do hope you won't ever need these guys!), Blue Cross Blue Sheild of SC, WFXB, Surge Magazine, GS Magazine, Alternatives News Magazine, Coastal Carolina OB/GYN, Responsive Solutions, Webster Trading Company, Keller Williams Realty, Starbucks and Pepsi. Our AIDS Walk is an important event. It certainly raises money but most of all the AIDS Walk raises awareness about HIV in our community. That education is more important than anything. By educating our friends and family about the risks of HIV, we are saving lives. Some really great news annouced at the event is that SC no longer has a waiting list for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Thanks to our state legislators and our US Representatives, increased funds have been made available for HIV care in our state. We are grateful and relieved. We also know from our experience last year that federal and state funding is not always guaranteed. With that in mind, Careteam will continue to seek financial support from our community to help decrease our reliance on federal and state dollars. In the mean time, are fulfilling our foremost goal of ensuring that everyone has access to HIV medical care and treatment and, we are doing that for less than $1800 per person, per year. Thanks to you and your continued financial support we will always meet this goal. Again, on behalf of the staff and Board of Directors of Careteam, thank you very much for your continued support. Sincerely, Johanna Haynes, Executive Director
2007 AIDS Walk and Festival Hello Friends of Careteam,Final plans are being made for our 2007 AIDS Walk and Festival! If you haven’t made plans to attend, mark your calendars now for September 22nd. We are excited to announce a new location for the event. We will be at Grand Park on Farrow Parkway (at the Old Air Force Base). Following the AIDS Walk we will be entertained by local artists who have graciously donated their time and performances for our Festival. Help us spread the word. Invite your friends, family and neighbors. You won’t want to miss this year’s event! Call today and we'll register you and your team for the event and, send you Pledge Forms. As you ask people to Sponsor you for the AIDS Walk be sure to clearly print their names and addresses so that we can thank them for their donation. We recommend a $25 minimum in sponsorships for each Walker. Please bring your Pledge Forms and donations to the AIDS Walk registration at 9:00 am.
The schedule of the event is as follows: Some of the performers you will hear are Gabby Trails (you remember her from Dining With Friends), The Broadway Juniors (from Theater of the Republic), Rachael Ayers, Margaret Curry, Joe Moyer and Acoustic Johnny. We will be selling Hot Dogs, Pepsi, Pop Corn and Sno-cones during the Concerts. There will be balloons and face painting for the kids. Bring your blankets and chairs. Start collecting your Sponsorships! The 2007 AIDS Walk and Festival is just around the corner. See you there, Johanna
Special Recognition for our DWF 2007 Party Hosts Every year, Careteam depends on people just like you to make Dining With Friends a successful fundraising event. We are fortunate that many of our Hosts are supporters who do this for us every year. Among those faithful are: Dr. John Covington and Mr. Robert Lukey, Red Ribbon Friends and CLAWS, The Charleston Cafe (Mr. Dave Heckman and Ms. Joanne Milnor), Dr. Beth Cardosi and Mr. Joe Base, Dr. Keith E. Wyche, Mr. Jamie Latwaitis and, Mr. John and Mrs. Cheryl Trudeau. This year we added new hosts to our family and they did a great job, too! They were: Mr. Tim McGhee and Ms. Ellen Leftwich, Mr. Jamey Sellers, Dr. Henry and Mrs. Saundra Saunders, Mr. John Reilly, Ms. Tonya Montgomery and Ms. Kate Phillips, Mr. Craig Dean and Mr. Patrick Radtke, Mr. Tim and Mrs. Jo Nell Koch and Ms. Sharon DelCorro.Many, many thanks to all of our Hosts for doing such a terrific job this year! Each year, Careteam gives recognition to the "Host(s)" whose party raises the most money for the event. This year that award went to Mr. Robert Lukey and Dr. John Covington. Their party raised just under $10,000. Congratulations and thank you both very much! Mr. Lukey and Dr. Covington have been the receiptients of this award as co-host for serveral years running and we appreciate their continued support. This year they wanted to recognize one of our newest hosts for his very successful dinner, Mr. Jamey Sellers. In doing so they passed the "2007 Outstanding Host Award" to Mr. Sellers. Mr. Sellers was certainly well deserving with a party total of over $2300. Not bad at all for a first year! So, congratulations to Mr. Sellers and to all of our Host for a great year. Thank you all very much! We will continue work harding to be good stewards of the money you give and raise on behalf of Careteam and the clients we serve.
Dining With Friends a tremedous success.... This year Careteam had 16 Host parties and a couple of restaurants that helped raise money for us as well. Charleston Cafe who has held parites for us now for several years raised over $2800. The City Bar offered 15% from the sales of their monthly feature dinner to Dining With Friends. That total and money raised from two more parties that haven't happened yet will put us well over $40,000.Thank you again to everyone who made the event a great success. To our sponsors: Waccamaw Cardiology, BlueCross/Blue Shield Responsive Solutions, Red Ribbon Friends, Alternatives, GS Magazine, Gator 107.9, Easy 94.5, Traffic Patrol Conway Emergency Group and Burroughs and Chapin Many others helped supply products for the event: Better Brands provided all of the beer, Pepsi Cola for the soft drinks and water, Starbucks for the great coffee, The Trestle for always doing a great job on our food Theatre of the Republic for our decorations and outstanding performers, Dan Prince and Stevie Wyatt our bartenders, Tim McGhee, chair of the DWF Committee, our committe members and for all of our volunteers, with out whom we would still be decorating..... Thank you all!
Dining With Friends April 28, 2007 Now is the time for you to decide to host a dinner party for us this year. We need your help. Our goal is 40 parties. Help us reach that goal by calling the office today! You can do it. Its easy and fun. Dinner with your frineds, at your house. What can be easier! You do that anyway! We provide the invitations for you to send out. They explain what Careteam is, what we do and why we need the financial support of our community. All you have to do is mail the invitations and have the party!
We were lucky enough to secure the Old Train Depot in downtown Myrtle Beach for the After Party Celebration. If you haven't been to a party at the Old Train Depot get ready. We are going to have a blast! It is a great location and venue! So, fire up the grill, get your dancing shoes polished and get ready for the party of the year! Thank you for your support! I can't wait to see you all there! Johanna
Dining With Friends 2007 Dear Friends of Careteam,It is time again to start finalizing our plans for Dining With Friends 2007! We are excited about this year’s event and look forward to seeing all of you there. The After Party Celebration was such a great success at the Myrtle Beach Train Depot last year that we have reserved it again for this year’s event. Mark your calendars now for April 28th. As we watch our federal funding decrease, fundraising has never been more important. Our goal this year is to book 20 host parties. If we do that, we can easily raise over $60,000! So, we need you to call today to book your party. Dining With Friends has always been a great party and lots of fun. It is also a very important fundraising event. Do your part to help Careteam. We need your support. Call us today at 236-9000. It is so easy. If you’ve never had a party before, here’s how it works. Careteam will supply invitations for your party that explains what Careteam is and that your dinner is a fundraising party. You send the invitations to your guests and start planning dinner. It does not have to be expensive, there are no requirements. And, it is a whole lot of FUN! We all have friends and if you’re like me, when you visit with friends it usually involves food. So, really this isn’t anything that you wouldn’t normally do anyway. You get to visit with friends and this time, they get to make a tax deductible contribution to a deserving, hard working agency. We ask that if at all possible, every host have their party on April 28th because at 8:30 that evening all the hosts and their guest will meet at the Train Depot for our After Party Celebration. That is when we will tally all the contributions from all the host parties to see how much money was raised. If you have hosted a party for us in the past, please host again this year. We need everyone’s help and that includes you! We must order our invitations in the next two weeks so don’t wait, call today! 236-9000 Thank you again for your help and we’ll see you at the Depot! Johanna
Urgent...please contact your representatives today! I am writing again to encourage you to look closely at the Ryan White CARE Act revisions. Please take the time to talk to leaders in your own state about what our needs are.While 75% of funds being allocated specifically to medical care sounds good on the surface, it will cripple services in the rural south, of which the state you represent, South Carolina is one.
Having the funds to pay for a medical care visit doesn't mean much when we can't get the patient to the appointmnet. Tranpsortation is a HUGE issue. The third issue in South CArolina is health care disparity. The working poor do not go to the doctor until they MUST because they can't afford it. That is how they were raised. As soon as they feel better, they stop going to the doctor and they stop taking medications. Keeping these patients on their medical regimes is a difficult task. One which requires ongoing behind the scenes encouragement and support. Case managers get patients to medical appointments and then keep them there, not physicians. If you are supporting this reauthorization of the CARE Act then you are listening to lobbyist from other parts of the country not your own state. We need you to listen to us. We are doing the work here and you are tying our hands.
Senator Lindsey Graham
Senator Jim DeMint Thank you for taking time for this very important need today.
Thank you for a successful Dining With Friends 2006 If you were at the After Party Celebration or one of the many host parties across the city you had a great time celebrating a really great cause! If you weren't you really missed out. This year we had amost 300 people attend our After Party Celebration at the Old Train Depot in downtown Myrtle Beach. By the end of the evening we had over $30,000 total funds raised. Since that time we have had several thousdand more come in from parties that did not happen until after the event. Today we have over $36,000 and there is still more to come.In case you were not there let me tell you what you missed. The fabulous Holly Hunt was our Master of Ceremony. Great job Holly! We had lots of delicious cakes, the best coffee, dancing (music by Mackel Hickman), silent auction and entertainment. The cast of "The Bee Hive", a recent theater production from the Theatre of the Republic in Conway performed twice during the evening melodies from the musical. If you missed the play you missed out. If you missed the play and your second chance to hear them during the After Party Celebration, you really missed out. They were terrific! We had art donated from some of our beloved local artists Kim Clayton, Lon Calhoun, Robert Sadlemire and long time supporter Robert Lukey. A good time was had by all! Ok, here is where I really step out in faith to make sure I thank everyone who helped make this evening possible. I want to thank everyone who worked so hard from our sponsors to our volunteers. It takes a lot of work to make such a fun and successful evening possible and we had lots of help! Thank you, thank you. This year we also had more cash sponsors of the event than ever before. These wonderful supporters allowed us to come into the event debt free with several thousand dollars left over. That kind of help is so important and we thank you. Those cash sponsors were Waccamaw Cardiology, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of SC, Responsivce Solutions, Carolina First Bank,the Red Ribbon Friends, Roche Pharmaceuticals and Abbot Laboratories. Our advertising sponsors have been with us for years and we appreciate them as well. They help make sure that everyone knows when our events take place. Thank you GS Magazine, Alternatives News Magazine, Quantum Radio of Myrtle Beach, Easy 105.0/94.5, Cool 104.9/100.1 and Traffic Patrol. To our volunteers who supplied the man/woman power to set up and break down the event, the Red Ribbon Friends, CLAWS, (especially Tim McGhee and Charles Foster who strung all of those fabulous lights!)and many, many behind the scenes volunters, thank you. To the Trestle Bakery and Pastries who suplied the delicious cakes, to Personal Touch Floral and Gifts for the flowers, Star Bucks who supplied the coffee, Theatre of the Republic who supplied the talent for our show, Better Brands for the beer, Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. for the non-alcoholic drinks, and Seaboard Signs thank you. This year Angelo's and Gator 107.9 (Quantum Radio of MB)partnered to sponsor an evening Dining With Friends event on Tuesday the 25th. Gator sold tickets and reservations over the air and Angelo's donated 100% of the dinner ticket cost to Careteam! Thank you Angelo Antonucci and Gator! A very special thank you goes to the group of hosts this year who raised over $9700 at their party alone, John Covington, Robert Lukey, Joseph Foster, Clark Vereen and Brad Woodbury. And last but certainly not least, to the Careteam staff and Board of Directors, without whom none of this would be possible, and to our brave clients for whom this is all necessary, thank you. I appoligize in advance for anyone who I have over looked. There were so many people who deserve recognition I could not have mentioned you all. Thank you! Now, mark your calenders for Dining With Friends 2007, April 28th! Start planning your parties now! Johanna
World AIDS Day December 1st Stop AIDS - Keep the Promise The Eighteenth Annual World AIDS Day will be observed around the world and in Horry and Georgetwon Counties on THursday, December 1st, 3rd,4th. World AIDS Day aims to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS both globally and in the United States.LOCAL EVENTS
Coastal Carolina University Dec. 1st
St. Michael's Catholic Church Dec. 1st, 7pm
Red Ribbon Friends Dec 3rd, 10pm
Red Ribbon Friends Dec 3rd, 11pm
Bethel AME Church, Georgetown Dec 4th, 10am
Please do your best to attend at least one of the activities planned that help to remind us all of the loved ones we have lost and, that this epidemic is still a National Health Care crisis for us in the United States and right here at home. To bring this number closer to home. The Waccamaw community of Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg counties has confirmed over 1,300 HIV positive residents. The World AIDS Day Campaign seeks to raise awareness about, and help address, the many issues associated with HIV/AIDS. Please join our efforts.
DWF a tremendous success...thanks to YOU! This year the Dining With Friends After Party Celebration was held at St. John Greek Church Hall. It was a great venue and the decorations, thanks to the Red Ribbon Friends, were absolutely beautiful. Thank you everyone who hosted a party, attended a party, attended the After Party Celebration and participated in the Silent Auction. We have collected over $30,000 so far and are very grateful to everyone. YOU helped make DWF 2005 the success it was and, thanks to you, the quality services and support for people with HIV in Horry, Georgetown and Williamsburg counties will continue. Know that we will work hard to remain good stewards of the contributions you have made.Congratulations to the Mad Hatter's Party hosted by Clark Vareen, Joseph Foster, John Covington and Robert Lukey, who won the trophy this year for party raising the most donations. They collected over $8500! Those who attended our after party this year found out quickly that having the event at a "church" hall was not a problem in the least. In fact, we have had numerous requests to use that facility again. And, we will! I have posted some pictures of the event for those of you who attended to remember how much fun you had and, for those who didn't, to show what you missed. We hope you will join us again next year. Plans are already underway. And, as I promised at the event, DWF will be April 29th next year. No more back yard parties in August. Way too hot for that! The heat index for Saturday was over 110. Those of you who came and had fun anyway are certainly to be commended. I ask now that you remember our Sponsors and special contributors this year and, thank them by patronizing their businesses. Thank you all again, our sponsors, donors, volunteers, staff and friends who gave so much to make this one of the best events so far. Johanna
Dining With Friends is this weekend! See you there..... Dear friends and supporters,
As a quick update, there have been more changes at Careteam. We have added two new staff members since you heard from me last. Gary Bell has joined us as a part time Prevention Coordinator. He will be working with Christal Morris in providing HIV Counseling and Testing to people at risk in our service area. Careteam is also fortunate to have Casandra Coleman working with us providing transportation for clients to and from medical appointments. And, she is using a new van that Careteam purchased last month to provide that transportation! We are pleased to welcome both of these fine people to our team. You may have noticed that Careteam has a new look. After much discussion over the past couple of years the staff and Board of Careteam has decided that it is vitally important today to have our name speak to who and what we are. There are lots of people in our service area who are positive and know it and yet they, for whatever reason, have not accessed services. This concerns us all a great deal. We want to make sure that over the next year, Careteam is a name that everyone knows. We must make sure that those who need us know we exist. At the same time Careteam is still committed to ensuring confidentially to our clients. We want you to know that becoming more public in name will not affect the privacy you have come to expect in receiving services from Careteam. We are now in the final week of preparations for Dining With Friends and we are very excited. “Thank you” in advance to all who are planning and hosting parties for us this year. Thanks to our many sponsors who have made this event possible with their generous donations. Thanks to our many supporters who throughout the years have always been here to volunteer, organize, and just show up for one of the most fun events, for undeniably one of the most worthy causes, on the Grand Strand. Thanks for being there for us again this year and for helping make this the best Dining With Friends year ever! For those of you, who have not been invited to a party and want to attend a dinner, please call the office and we will hook you up. I look forward to seeing you all at the After Party Celebration! Until then, be safe, be happy. Sincerely, Johanna
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