Real Bad Party Raises $200K For Charities

Real Bad, the annual volunteer-run closing party for Folsom Street Fair, raised a record $200,000 this year for its beneficiaries. Via press release, here's where the money will go:

AIDS Emergency Fund: A provider of financial resources to prevent homelessness and add stability to the lives of those disabled by HIV/AIDS.

Alliance Health Project: An organization that brings the skills and expertise of UCSF, one of the nation's leading health sciences universities, to an LGBTQ community‐based clinic.

Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center: A provider of education, support, empowerment and advocacy for Asian and Pacific Islander communities — particularly those living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS.

Bay Area Young Positives: An organization that helps young people, ages 14 to 26, living with HIV/AIDS live longer, happier, healthier, more productive and quality-filled lives through peer-based services.

GLBT Historical Society: An organization that collects, preserves, and interprets the history of GLBT people and the communities that support them.

Next year Real Bad will celebrate its 25th anniversary. (Tipped by JMG reader Craig)

SAN FRANCISCO: Real Bad Party Donates $180K To LGBT Community Groups

This year's Real Bad party, the closing event of Folsom Street Fair, raised a record-breaking $180,000 for local LGBT and HIV/AIDS groups. Via press release:

Five selected LGBT health and community service organizations are sharing the funds raised, which include 100 percent of the money collected from general admission ticket sales. The beneficiary organizations are Maitri, the only residential care facility in the Bay Area focusing on the underserved community of those dying of or severely debilitated by AIDS; The National AIDS Memorial Grove, a healing sanctuary that offers, in perpetuity, a public landscape for grieving, gathering and renewal, keeping the human tragedy of AIDS in the forefront of the national consciousness by honoring all lives touched by AIDS; Project Open Hand, a provider of food and nourishment dedicated to improving the lives of people with HIV/AIDS, seniors and the home-bound or critically ill; San Francisco Suicide Prevention, a provider of emotional support, assistance and intervention as necessary to persons in crisis and those impacted by them, without regard to race, age, religion, gender or sexual orientation; and Visual Aid, a provider of crucial services to Bay Area professional artists living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, hepatitis and other life-threatening illnesses, helping to preserve, present and promote their creative work.

Congratulations to the Real Bad team for another fantastic year and to their Production Chairman, Craig Cochran (whom you know as JMG reader Castro Craig.)

SAN FRANCISCO: Real Bad Party Announces 2010 Beneficiaries & DJ

Grass Roots Gay Rights West, the producers of the annual post-Folsom Street Fair party Real Bad, have announced the beneficiaries of this year's event.

This year's worthy organizations: The National AIDS Memorial Grove, San Francisco Suicide Prevention, Project Open Hand, Visual Aid (services for artists living with AIDS), and Maitri (residential end-stage care for people with AIDS.) To date, Real Bad has donated over $1M to LGBT and HIV/AIDS groups in the Bay Area.

The DJ for this year's event will be Atlanta's DJ Sean Mac. Along with the NGLTF's Winter Party and Heritage of Pride's Pier Dance, I consider Real Bad to be among the three absolute best annual gay dance parties in the nation. (And I've pretty much been to 'em all.) All three parties are 100% charity events completely run by volunteers. This is not a coincidence. Real Bad XXII takes place on Sunday, September 26th.

RELATED: Today the NGLTF announced that this year's Winter Party raised over $200K for the Dade Community Foundation’s GLBT Community Projects Fund in Miami. That is the largest amount raised since the NGLTF took over the event several years ago.

Real Bad Does Real Good

Grass Roots Gay Rights West, the non-profit group that produces Folsom Street Fair's Real Bad party, has presented $150,000 to the beneficiaries of this year's event. That's openly gay SF Supervisor (and mayoral candidate) Bevan Dufty on the right, wearing a suit. Behind Dufty is my dear friend Leif Wauters, last year's party honcho.

Four selected LGBT health and community service organizations are sharing the funds raised, which include 100 percent of the money collected from general admission ticket sales. The beneficiary organizations are Dimensions Clinic, which offers medical and mental health services to queer, transgender, and questioning youth, ages 12 to 25; Maitri, one of San Francisco’s most respected and valued resources in providing care to people severely debilitated by AIDS; openhouse, a housing, services, and advocacy organization with a goal to ensure safe housing and support services that are sensitive to the needs of LGBT seniors; and Visual Aid, a nonprofit organization founded to help preserve, present, and promote the work of Bay Area professional artists living with HIV/AIDS, Breast Cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses.

To date the Real Bad parties have donated over $1 million to LGBT-related and other deserving groups. As I've said here before, Real Bad is among the top three most fun and best-run gay events in the nation, along with Miami's Winter Party and NYC's Pier Dance. All three are volunteer staffed. This is not a coincidence.

REAL BAD Announces Beneficiaries & DJ

The organizers of Real Bad, the all-volunteer charity dance event that closes Folsom Street Fair every year, have announced this year's beneficiaries and DJ.

Grass Roots Gay Rights West (GRGR/West), producers of the annual REAL BAD fundraising party which follows San Francisco’s world-renowned Folsom Street Fair, today announced the beneficiaries and DJ for REAL BAD XXI. Four LGBT health and community service organizations, listed below, will share 100 percent of the funds raised by ticket sales to this historically sold-out event. Last year, REAL BAD XX raised a record $160,000 for worthy charities. After REAL BAD XXI, over $1 Million dollars will have been donated to charities over the event’s history.

This year’s DJ, chosen from over 20 applicants, is Phill Mezzatesta of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. REAL BAD XXI will take place on Sunday, September 27, 2009.

The organizations named as beneficiaries of REAL BAD XXI represent diverse causes within the LGBT community. The beneficiary organizations are:

• Dimensions Clinic, which offers medical and mental health services to queer, transgender, and questioning youth, ages 12 to 25
• Maitri, one of San Francisco’s most respected and valued resources in providing care to people severely debilitated by AIDS
• openhouse, a housing, services, and advocacy organization with a goal is to ensure safe housing and support services that are sensitive to the needs of LGBT seniors
  
• Visual Aid, a nonprofit organization founded to help preserve, present, and promote the work of Bay Area professional artists living with HIV/AIDS, Breast Cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses

With the Winter Party and the HOP's Pier Dance, I consider Real Bad to be one of the top three annual dance events in the country. All three are completely volunteer run. This is not a coincidence.

Real Bad Donates $160K

The staff of the 20th anniversary Real Bad party held their check presentation ceremony last night where they donated a record-setting $160,000 to five LGBT charities: AIDS Legal Referral Panel, GLBT Historical Society, Dimensions Clinic, openhouse, and The Positive Care Center at UCSF. Real Bad is the fantastic closing night party of the Folsom Street Fair put on by Grass Root Gay Rights/West, an all volunteer organization headed this year by my dear friend Leif Wauters (pictured at far right). Congrations to Leif and crew! [Photo Credit: Eric Neilson]

Real Bad Announces Beneficiaries & DJ

The 20th annual Real Bad party, the "unofficial" closing party of Folsom Street Fair and one of the best gay dance events on the planet, has announced the beneficiaries and DJ for this year's event. Real Bad is completely volunteer-run and 100% of its proceeds go to the LGBT community.

Grass Roots Gay Rights West (GRGR/West), producers of the annual Real Bad fundraising dance party that follows San Francisco’s world-renowned Folsom Street Fair, today announced the beneficiaries and DJ for Real Bad XX — the twentieth installment of the legendary party. Five LGBT health and community service organizations, listed below, will share 100 percent of the funds raised by ticket sales for this historically sold-out event. The DJ, chosen from more than 20 applicants, is Tim Jones of London, England. Real Bad XX takes place on Sunday, September 28, 2008.

The organizations named as this year’s Real Bad beneficiaries represent diverse causes within the LGBT community. The beneficiary organizations are:

• AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP), a civil rights and social services organization that addresses the legal needs of people living with HIV/AIDS.
• Dimensions Clinic, which offers medical and mental health services to queer, transgender, and questioning youth, ages 12 to 25.
• GLBT Historical Society, which maintains one of the world's largest collections of primary source materials about queer history. It will use its grant to support the installation of a major exhibit called “History of the GLBT Community of San Francisco: Treasures from the Archives of the GLBT Historical Society.”
• openhouse, which is a housing, services, and advocacy organization for LGBT seniors. Its goal is to ensure safe housing and support services that are sensitive to the needs of LGBT seniors.
• 360: The Positive Care Center at UCSF (360-UCSF), an HIV clinic that aims to serve all patients, including the uninsured and under-insured, in an equal access manner. Its innovative approach includes a program that reaches out to HIV-positive men of color and another project that focuses on HIV and aging.
  

Leif Wauters, Event Chair for Real Bad XX, stated that the beneficiary organizations were selected “based on their ability to create sustainable results or measurable change in San Francisco.” Wauters added that “the goal of Real Bad XX is to match the record-breaking community donation from Real Bad XIX in 2007.” Last year, Real Bad raised $150,000 for local LGBT charities.

Leif Wauters is one of my dearest friends and you can trust that with someone of his enormous talent at the helm, this year's Real Bad will be as huge a success as in years past.

RELATED: Here's my review of Real Bad 2006.

Real Bad = Real Dough

Organizers of the 19th annual Real Bad party, which took place after the conclusion of this year's Folsom Street Fair, had their check presentation ceremony last night, awarding $150,000 to two worthy Bay Area institutions.

San Francisco, CA – (November 8, 2007) – Grassroots Gay Rights West (GRGR/West) announces the donation of record proceeds from REAL BAD XIX. Ticket sales from this year’s nine-hour leather celebration allowed for the beneficiaries, Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC) and STOP AIDS Project, to each receive $75,000 to support their respective work for the community.

REAL BAD Working Group event chair, Steve Mueller, whose constant drive to enrich the REAL BAD experience and love for the San Francisco dance community led this legendary party to a record-breaking year said, “I’m thrilled to give such amazing awards to the deserving organizations that partnered with us this year. The entire Working Group takes great pride in what we achieved and the happiness we brought our guests that Sunday night in September and the greater community through tonight’s donations."

REAL BAD, produced by GRGR/WEST, operates through its Circle of Friends ritual: friends inspiring friends to gather in celebration to benefit community. Hosts and the generosity of sponsors provide the funding required to produce REAL BAD, allowing 100 percent of ticket proceeds to be donated to its beneficiaries. This tradition of grassroots fundraising has allowed REAL BAD, the longest running, most successful fundraising event of its kind in San Francisco, to donate to Bay Area LGBT civil rights, community services, and/or HIV/health-related organizations.

Congratulations to GGGR/West for their good work!

UPDATE: Per request, the above photo is now embiggenable.