AHF receives American Express fund to fight against HIV/AIDS

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is proud to announce that it has been voted as one of the charities to receive $200,000 in funding from American Express through the company's Members Project program. The funding will help AIDS Healthcare Foundation further its mission to provide cutting-edge medicine and advocacy, regardless of a person's ability to pay and will make an impact on the fight against HIV/AIDS.

"Thank you to American Express and TakePart for your generosity and dedicated efforts to support and promote causes such as ours. I'd like to personally express my gratitude to all of AHF's committed and passionate supporters who voted week after week. Your belief in the good work that AHF does is truly humbling," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Added Weinstein: "This crucial funding will help AIDS Healthcare Foundation continue to deliver lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention services to the neediest and most underserved populations in the U.S. and globally. We believe that every person living with HIV/AIDS deserves access to treatment. This funding will go a long way toward helping us to keep that promise of life."

Members Project is a partnership between American Express and TakePart, a social action network. Members Project encourages everyone, including non-American Express® Cardmembers, to take his or her step and help support worthy causes and charitable organizations.

Anyone can get involved in Members Project by volunteering or donating. Members Project provides the platform to help make taking action easier with organizations like AIDS Healthcare Foundation. For more information about Members Project, visit: http://www.takepart.com/membersproject.

"We are grateful to Members Project from American Express and TakePart for the chance to compete for this critical funding and for your support of AHF's mission to save lives," said Ronna Albert, Acting Director of Fundraising. "Participation in the Members Project has given AHF a golden opportunity to mobilize our existing base of supporters—including nearly 200,000 Facebook fans—as well as to expand our circle of advocates interested in making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS."

The Members Project funds will help expand the organization's reach. The group will be able to treat more patients like Rebekka, a Los Angeles woman who, now that she's receiving care from an AHF Healthcare Center, has not let an HIV-positive diagnosis stop her from leading a fulfilling life; or, Katya, a 29-year-old Project Manager who gave birth to a healthy child last year after receiving treatment at an AHF clinic in Kiev, Ukraine; or, Ugandan father Julius, and his young son Jude who are both HIV-positive. Father and son accompany each other to doctor visits at AHF's clinic in the rural Masaka District each month and are thriving.

In many African nations, lifesaving AIDS treatment can be provided for as little as $300 per patient per year. Two hundred thousand could provide more than 600 people living with HIV/AIDS with medical care for one year in any of the seven countries in which AHF operates in that part of the world: South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Kenya and Zambia.

In the U.S., the funds could be used to bolster AHF's innovative, community-based prevention and testing services that utilize mobile HIV testing vans to reach rural, minority and under-served populations through the country - particularly those individuals who do not have regular access to health care. This can be a lifesaving service, as early detection and linkage-to-care are key to improved health outcomes for HIV-positive individuals.

AHF welcomes anyone interested in joining the effort to fight the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and globally to sign up to receive all the latest HIV/AIDS news and action alerts through our website www.aidshealth.org, and to become part of our network on Facebook and Twitter.