STARBUCKS (RED) Is Already Saving Lives

The (RED) team is excited to show our support for our newest partner, (STARBUCKS). The purchase of each (STARBUCKS) RED EXCLUSIVE beverage contributes 5 cents directly to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

And the numbers are really adding up! In just the few weeks that the drinks have been available your purchases have helped generate a contribution to the Global Fund that can provide more than 1.4 million days of antiretroviral therapy for people who need it. This means 3800 people living with HIV could get a year’s worth of medicine, all because of you making a simple choice at your favorite coffee shop.

Thank you to everyone who has helped mark this historic launch of our partnership - we couldn’t have done it without you. And keep buying STARBUCKS (PRODUCT) RED to do something good every day.

If you haven’t been there already make sure to check out www.starbucks.com/red where you can join the Starbucks community and pledge your commitment to purchasing the (STARBUCKS) RED EXCLUSIVE beverages this holiday season. And once you’re there be sure to join the (RED) team in uploading your favorite photo - capturing you to the power of (RED) too!

Converse Launches Latest 1HUND(RED) Styles

Check out the latest from the Converse (PRODUCT) RED^TM 1HUND(RED) collection. We were excited to see that Converse had a distinctive soundtrack in mind this Holiday season. For these designs, punk-rockers, pop-rockers, indie-rockers and good old fashioned rock-n-rollers put pen to Chuck and let their (RED) inspiration out.

#10
For punk frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, the decisions was easy. Black Chuck Taylors had always been meaningful in his life and music. In his updated version, Armstrong recasts the classic with a leather and hemp black upper.



#66
Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim believe that inspiration is everywhere. For their 1HUND(RED) design they found it right outside their window, in the urban-industrial skyline that graces the view from the couple's apartment. Kim included her signature pigeons-in-flight, which also appear in the band's logo and in her own art. The pop-punk duo's sunny songs seem to espouse that same idea… that life rises above it all.



#79
Canadian rockers Tokyo Police Club know that all things are interconnected, and are amazed when one is able to harness distant pieces to capture an idea. The band has used that concept to create something pretty amazing themselves. On their shoe, concentric circles etched into the leather upper form systems through space… clearly connected, across the world.




#81
For nearly two decades, the Cannanes have defied the music industry status quo with their unique pop-rock sound and untraditional style. To this Aussie group, to redefine comes naturally. As original band member David Nichols puts it, "I want people to see that change is possible through democracy, agitation and advocacy." His 1HUND(RED) inspiration comes from that belief in the power of the people.




As always, a portion of the profits from every Converse (PRODUCT) RED shoe is contributed directly to the Global Fund, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.
Choose your favorites at converse.com... but don’t forget to spread the cheer to friends and family too.

(RED) on Fox Business

(RED) CEO Susan Smith Ellis was on Fox Business yesterday to talk about (RED). Have a look:

(RED) visits Lesotho to see (RED) funds in action

Two (RED) staffers, Christina Malito and Monica Valenti, recently visited Lesotho, our latest grant country. They will be sharing their experiences over the course of the next few months.

Most people have never heard of Lesotho, so let’s start with some quick facts.

Lesotho is a country nestled within South Africa and is only about the size of the state of Maryland. It is a very mountainous country and about three-quarters of the population live in rural areas.

While the country is small, it has the 3rd highest AIDS prevalence in the world – 23.2% of the population are HIV positive.

The efforts to stem the AIDS emergency in this area face many challenges, such as geography, poverty, cultural and religious stigmas.

The good news is, Lesotho has already received $7.85MM of (RED) money and a total of $24.2 million from this Global Fund (RED) grant to date. They have been putting that money to good use. The programs support a variety of efforts, from medicine distribution to awareness building to income generating activities. All programs incorporate education which is the first step to helping eliminate AIDS in Africa.

Thanks to robust awareness programs, 448,000 people have come in for HIV testing and counseling, and 31,000 HIV+ people have begun ARV treatment. One of the areas that shows the most promise in Lesotho is the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child. More than 95% of pregnant women in Lesotho are now being tested for their HIV status. Of those who tested positive and are receiving PMTCT, the majority of their babies are born HIV negative and remain healthy.

We got to experience firsthand the great work being done on the ground, and were most amazed by the incredible people behind these success stories. We will be sharing some of these stories in a special blog series over the next few months, so stay tuned for more.

(RED) Collages from Polyvore.com

On December 1st, Polyvore.com launched a contest for their users to create collage designs that included at least 1 (PRODUCT) RED item from our site. There were 359 entries in all, and though we thought they were all great, three winners were chosen. Check them out below!

1st:

WORLD AiDS DAY [[P0PULAR SET LiST 12-1-08!!]] by ❄its*IZZIE*CULLEN[♥'s TWiLiGHT!]

2nd:

World AIDS Day - Go Red by EMILY LIZ

3rd:

RED Knowledge by ♥✿PaintHead♥

What World AIDS Day Means To Me

By Susan Smith Ellis
CEO, (RED)

For some, today is a day of reflection, to remember a loved one or friends lost to AIDS. For others, today is a day to acknowledge the progress we've made fighting this pandemic, and the tens of thousands of lives that have been saved thanks to the availability of life-saving antiretroviral medicine, and new ways of getting access to it, like (RED).

For me, today is a day where I think of what still needs to be done, of the literally, millions of people we still need to help in Africa who are fighting to survive. I recently traveled to Rwanda and saw the impact of the (RED) money at work. Clinics that a few years ago lacked basic sanitation and supplies, now are functioning well and helping thousands of people live a better life. Real results in preventing mother to child transmission of the virus . Real progress in getting the anti retroviral drugs to those in need and to stemming the spread of AIDS. However, this clearly isn’t work that is finished and today is the day where I see not only how far we've come, but how much more remains to be done.

In sub-Saharan Africa, over 4,000 lives are lost every day to this preventable, treatable disease. Mothers and fathers die for lack of two pills that cost 40 cents a day. There are 12 million AIDS orphans in Africa, and it is projected that there could be 18 million by the end of the decade. Children bringing up children. It’s not a cause. It’s an emergency.

The numbers can seem overwhelming, the size of the epidemic so massive, that we ask, what can one person do? Well, thanks to your (RED) purchases, you have driven $115 million into the Global Fund to buy the two pills a day that keep a person living with HIV in Africa alive. Through the power of the purse you have caused companies to give a percentage of their profits to the Global Fund.

And today, Starbucks is donating 5 cents for every single drink sold directly to The Global Fund and throughout the rest of the holiday season, there will be special (RED) drinks available at Starbucks. They sell 50 million cups of coffee every day. You do the math - if some of these purchases are (RED) then potentially millions will be delivered to the fund. And all you have to do is buy a cup of coffee. At no extra cost to you.

Also today, we are launching (RED) Wire, a digital music magazine that, for $5 a month, gives you amazing music from artists like John Legend, U2, Jenny Lewis, Keith Urban, Elvis Costello and more. You'll also get special content and updates from Africa - with half the money going directly to The Global Fund. There's a launch party going on right now at red.msn.com - stop by and you can sign up for two free issues of (RED) Wire.

There are special (RED) t-shirts at GAP. African-inspired (RED) DELL Laptops. A new student upgrade of (RED) Windows Vista Ultimate. And a new (RED) iPod nano. Not to mention our Armani (RED) collection, Hallmark (RED) gift cards, the artist inspired Converse One HUND(RED) and their African canvas Chuck Taylors and many more options. I hope that as you look at your holiday list, you'll think about including some (RED) gifts - buy (RED) and you save lives, it's as simple as that.

Tomorrow, it won’t be World AIDS Day again, but the need will still be there as it will be every single day from now to next December 1st. To all of you who choose (RED), thank you. What you choose to buy matters.