FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
19 February 2010
ARCW to Honor Mayor Tom Barrett for Leadership
on AIDS at Annual Gala
Milwaukee — The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW) will present its top Leadership award to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett at its annual Make A Promise Dinner Gala on April 17, 2010 at the Midwest Airlines Center.
“For 25 years Mayor Barrett has been a steadfast leader in the fight against AIDS,” ARCW President and CEO Doug Nelson said. “In the state Legislature he led efforts to prohibit discrimination against people with HIV, in Congress he was a leading voice to lift the ban on federal funding of needle exchange and as Mayor he has protected HIV funding in the city budget even during the toughest of fiscal times.”
Nelson said the recognition for Barrett is long overdue. “No one could ask for a stronger advocate and a more loyal ally in the fight against AIDS than Tom Barrett.”
The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin is home to the ARCW Medical Center — Wisconsin’s largest and fastest growing provider of HIV health care. Through its integrated medical, dental and mental health clinics more than 1,200 HIV patients gain the health care they need for long term survival with HIV disease.
The Make A Promise Dinner Gala raises funds to support the ARCW Medical Center and annually draws 1,000 business, health care, philanthropic and political leaders. Other award winners to be recognized at the Gala include:
- State Senator Jeff Plale — for leadership in securing $1.8 million in new state funding for the expansion of the ARCW Medical Center in Green Bay and Milwaukee.
- Froedtert Hospital — for its partnership in providing specialty and inpatient care to ARCW Medical Center patients and extending its Epic electronic medical record system to the ARCW Medical Center.
- Joseph Pabst — as Philanthropist of the Year for his personal donations and innovative fundraising strategies that have raised more than $204,000 for ARCW.
- Attorney Michael Stocker, Donald Alvarez and Allen Thornell — for their leadership in bringing a national class action anti-trust lawsuit on HIV drug pricing and winning a settlement of $10 million that was distributed to support 13 HIV health care centers across the country including $377,587 for the ARCW Medical Center.
“All of these leaders have made extraordinary contributions and we are proud to recognize them and call them our partners in the fight against AIDS,” Nelson said.
To purchase tickets for the Make A Promise Dinner Gala or to make a donation, please contact Tad Gospodarek, ARCW Director of Special Events at 414-225-1598.
For more information about the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin or the ARCW Medical Center, please contact Bill Keeton, ARCW Director of Communications and Government Relations at 414-225-1572.
