Penelope for (RED) at Cannes

Earlier this week friend of (RED) Penelope Cruz hosted The Hollywood Domino Party at the Cannes Film Festival despite suffering food poisoning and the flu just days before. The Domino Party aimed to raise money for the Global Fund in the spirit of (RED). Guests included Lily Cole, Alberta Ferretti, Stella McCartney and Paris Hilton. Thanks for your support Penelope!

THE MINI IS NOW MIGHTY

Say hello to the latest product from (RED) – the red colored Dell Mini netbooks. These must-have (PRODUCT)RED netbooks are light in both price and weight – starting at $299, under 2.86lbs and as thin as 1.12". They are affordable, compact, good looking and now there's a reason to love them even more. Dell is contributing a portion of the proceeds from each sale of a red colored Mini to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

They come in 4 versions: 9", 10v, 10" and 12" and all have webcams, built in WiFi and Bluetooth.

Now, here are those all important details: size & money

9" Starting at US $249

10v Starting at US $299

10" Starting at US $349

12" Starting at US $399

The Dell (PRODUCT)RED Minis are available now in the US and Asia and coming to Europe, the Middle East and Africa on May 28th. Please check in with dell.com for specific availability near you.

And don't forget to choose the red colored (PRODUCT)RED option.

Shop Now

Hooray to our Students and Grads!

For all of you college students out there we just wanted to send congratulations on wrapping up another year, or maybe even graduating. And a special thank you message to our college ambassadors who have worked with us this year to help promote (PRODUCT) RED and raise awareness about AIDS in Africa. Tien at Harvard, Kelsey at University of San Diego, Simon at Notre Dame, Mike at Sacred Heart University, Jordyn at University of Wisconsin and Stephanie at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University - we are so appreciative of your efforts! Check out some of the great work they’ve been doing all year here.

Our ambassador Mike Fazzino, a junior at Sacred Heart University studying Business Administration and Political Science, was even recently featured in his university’s Alumni Magazine as a trustee scholar. In addition to working with (RED), Mike also started the ONE campaign on his college campus to help raise awareness about extreme poverty and preventable disease. Thanks Mike for all of your hard work this year and for using your voice to spread the (RED) word.

Take a read through Mike’s interview below:

Favorite Courses
The Business School at SacredHeart was a big pull for me.Jack Welch is a name that everyone knows in business. Once I started taking courses here, though, I realized that I was also really interested in politics. I think there’s a misconception that anyone involved in business has to be a greedy person. At Sacred Heart, my courses have taught me to appreciate the term “cre- ative capitalism,” which basically means integrating your ability to be socially aware with the need to make a profit.

Proudest Accomplishments
I started the One Campaign at Sacred Heart, which is part of a worldwide, nonpartisan public interest group dedicated to eliminating poverty and disease worldwide. I’ve helped recruit Sacred Heart students to join the initiative, which has two million members at different universities around the country. It’s wonderful to see the number of students interested in that common goal grow.

Biggest Surprise
I’m from Woodbury, Connecticut, and I never intended to stay local when I was looking at colleges. I’m surprised that I could get such a high quality education so close to home. My family has a lot of teachers in it, so I really appreciate the value of a good education.

What’s Next
I’m doing an internship right now with (PRODUCT) RED, a brand that partners with big companies like American Express, Apple and Gap to raise money for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Each partner company creates a product with the (PRODUCT) RED logo and gives a percentage of its profits to the Global Fund. This has opened my eyes as a young businessman learning to be socially responsible and made me think that I might volunteer abroad once I graduate instead of joining the workforce right away. If Sacred Heart has taught me anything, it’s that you can only learn so much from sitting in a classroom.

(RED) Makes a World of Difference

If you’ve ever bought a (RED) product, your choice was heard loud and clear at the 19th Board Meeting of The Global Fund in Geneva, Switzerland. Since a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every (RED) product goes directly to the Global Fund, you and the $130 Million dollars you have helped contribute so far were at the table alongside ambassadors from countries all over the world. Like you, they were there to celebrate the 2 million people that have been given treatment for HIV thanks to the Global Fund, and to push forward in the fight against HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Despite the stormy economy, people from all over the world are joining together to step up the fight against HIV. The time is now. The medicine is effective and cheap. The need is great. We can save millions of lives.

Caption: Global Fund Chairman Rajat Gupta visiting Lusaka in 2008. Photo courtesy of The Globe and Mail 2008.

It’s such an important time that Global Fund Board Chair Rajat Gupta convened a special session on HIV/AIDS. I wish you could have been there—it was a great snapshot of why the Global Fund works. First, we heard Anil Soni, CEO of the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, the group that has done so much to bring the price of the medicine down, speak passionately about ways to make sure countries get the right drugs at the lowest price. Then we heard Carol Nawina Nyirenda, a Global Fund Board Member from Africa who is HIV+. Carol runs the Community Initiative for TB, HIV/AIDS, and Malaria (CITAM) in Zambia—she spoke very precisely about what needs to happen on the ground to win the fight against HIV/AIDS. She concluded with a simple reminder, “Please remember, to us, this is not a project…this is our life”.

So, there is more that we need to do, but you should know that your (RED) choices create money for medicine that really works and that means more lives are saved every day. On behalf of the worldwide community that drives the Global Fund, thanks for being (RED).

Colin @ (RED)

(RED)NIGHTS Rocks in Rolling Stone Magazine

Check out the article below that’s in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. It’s their Live issue and hits newsstands today Friday May 15th, so make sure you grab a copy. Rolling Stone offers some great coverage of (RED)NIGHTS, our concert series that saves lives. And don’t miss the quote from Santigold expressing how easy it is to get involved in the fight against AIDS through (RED) - we hope you feel the same way.


(RED) Campaign Preps Concerts

Fall Out Boy, Santigold, All-American Rejects and O.A.R. are some of the artists who have signed on to participate in the new (RED)NIGHTS concert series, an initiative from Bono’s (RED) campaign. A portion of the proceeds from each concert – there are 26 total, but not all dates have been announced – will go to the Global Fund, which raises money to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. “I’ve wanted to get involved in the fight against AIDS for a long time, but I wasn’t sure what to do,” says Santigold. “I’m glad someone found a way to make it easy to get involved.” The series will culminate with a multi-act show in New York on World AIDS Day, December 1st.

For more information on (RED)NIGHTS click here.

Want to learn more about the President’s plan for the U.S. Global Health Policy? Tune in today at 1pm

The Kaiser Family Foundation will be hosting a live interactive webcast this afternoon at 1pm EST on the global health initiatives of President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposal. The webcast will feature an expert panel including our sister organization ONE’s Director of Government Relations Tom Hart. Topics to be discussed include what has been allocated to support global health efforts abroad, including the President’s Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).

If you’re interested in watching you can see the live studio webcast on the Kaiser Foundations website.

Witnessing the promise of ARVs

I’m in southern Africa visiting a country we hope to announce shortly will be the next country recipient of (RED) dollars, thanks to your continuing support in choosing to buy (RED). I can’t say which country or which Global Fund HIV grant will be involved yet, but stay tuned!

As part of my visit, I’ve been meeting a number of HIV positive people who are just beginning antiretroviral therapy which helps enable people living with HIV to lead healthy, lives.

It’s hard to imagine what people like Miriam, Eunice, Maureen and others must feel at this often life-changing and very challenging time. For some, like these three women I met this week, beginning antiretroviral (ARV) therapy happens just days after they learn they are HIV positive for the first time. Not only that, but the reason they went for an HIV test in the first place was because they had all fallen ill and weren’t getting better.

Imagine processing all of this news about your health when you are feeling very ill and weak. But instead of feeling despair, these women have shown dignity and optimism for the future. They now know that having the HIV virus, which left un-treated will evolve in to AIDS and certain death, need not be a death sentence any more thanks to antiretroviral therapy.

Each of them speak about their hopes and plans for the future including their desire to be healthy enough to look after themselves and their children. That’s a future these women couldn’t have contemplated before the availability of ARV’s.

Greta @ (RED)

Katy Perry is the newest (RED)NIGHTS artist

This just in! Cherry ChapStick fan Katy Perry has been added to our list of (RED)NIGHTS artists and will be turning her July 28th show at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom (RED). Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10am at livenation.com . We’re so happy to have Katy on board!

And remember to keep checking back with us as there’s many more artists and locations to come. To get ticket info and to check out the other artists that have turned their concerts (RED) click here.

Gap (PRODUCT) RED T - As Seen on TV

Check it out! Leonard Hofstadter (left) -- played by Johnny Galecki -- wears a GAP (PRODUCT) RED Graphic T on a recent episode of The Big Bang Theory. Want your own? click here.

Gap contributes half of the profits from each Gap (PRODUCT)RED T directly to the Global Fund.

Say hello to (RED)NIGHTS - a concert series that saves lives

We’re so excited about our news today! We’re launching a new (RED) event – (RED)NIGHTS. 26 incredible shows in the US to raise money and awareness about AIDS in Africa, a preventable and treatable disease.

To kick off the series, (RED)NIGHTS artists Santigold, The Veronicas, Gomez, O.A.R., Fall Out Boy, Lisa Hannigan and The All-American Rejects will turn one of their upcoming concerts (RED). Click here for ticket info. And there'll be more artists to come. Here’s what Marc Roberge of O.A.R. has to say about being a (RED)NIGHTS artist: "If bringing awareness to what (RED) is doing helps one person receive antiretroviral treatment and live a healthy life we have accomplished our goal." Thanks Marc!

We want everyone to enjoy the series so no matter where you are in the world, we're hoping you'll come to see and hear a little bit of (RED)NIGHTS online after the shows. And we'd love everyone who'll be coming to the concerts to help with that - we're developing our website to give people the chance to upload videos, photos, comments and reviews after the night. Those at the shows will also be able to tweet away on the night. We're planning a digital road trip and we hope you'll be taking it with us.

Click here for more info on (RED)NIGHTS.

See you on the night or online. We can’t wait!

Christy Turlington: philanthropist, mother, and friend of (RED)

With Mother’s Day coming up in the U.S., we wanted to share with you a great article by the Associated Press on supermom Christy Turlington. As a close friend of (RED)’s Christy has hosted our Mother’s Day brunch for the last couple of years, yoga posed in a Gap (PRODUCT) RED tank top for Annie Leibovitz and even traveled with us to Swaziland to see how (RED) money is put to work first hand – and that’s not everything.

These days Christy is committing herself to health issues and currently studying a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Public Health, and directing a documentary on the risks and successes of maternal health around the world. With 2 young children of her own she has come to understand the importance of mother and child care and she is eager to make a difference in the lives of other moms. (RED)’s co-founder Bobby Shriver can’t say enough about her “…she grasps it very deeply and she cares about motherhood and illness…if she ever wanted to run for office, she'd be very good.”

So thank you Christy for all of your work for (RED), for the many lives you have already touched and for the many more you will continue to. Happy Mother’s Day!

To read the full story on Christy click here.

Angela @ (RED)

We have news. Big news.

It's going to be about a new (RED) event. And it's to do with music.

We'll be announcing it first via email on Monday. Sign up and be the first in the know.

TIME Magazine's Q&A with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Just reading a great article on Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state in Africa. After asking people to submit questions TIME magazine selected the top 10 and sat down with her.

Here’s what she had to say in response to the following Q: ‘With the criticisms recently launched against foreign aid programs, do you think Africa is better off without them?’

A: ‘No, Africa can still use structured, focused aid. The problem is that aid should be properly used. It must support the government's own development agenda. And the country itself should use its own resources well. I think in a few places in Africa, this is happening.’

If you’re interested in reading more take a look at the full article here.

The (RED) l Global Fund road-trip has begun

(RED) and the Global Fund have recently hit the road to visit our partners. And by partners we mean the likes of Starbucks, Gap and Apple - the brands we work with that produce (RED) products. As some of you may know the way (RED) works is that our (RED) partners send up to 50% of the profits from the sale of (RED) products directly to the Global Fund. (RED) does not touch any of this money and what’s more, the Global Fund doesn’t take any overheads either.

It was inspiring to have our partners meet the Global Fund face to face and get to talk about what (RED) money is doing on the ground and how we can all maximize our efforts to ensure the highest contribution levels to the Global Fund, and ultimately to those people living with HIV in Africa.

At the meetings not only did (RED) partners learn the incredible impact their contributions are having every day but we also had a chance to hear Christoph Benn’s personal journey of becoming the Director of External Relations and Partnerships at the Global Fund. Christoph has dedicated his life to the fight against HIV. He is a physician with special training in Tropical Medicine and Public Health who saw the AIDS emergency developing first hand when he was a doctor in Tanzania in the late 80’s. He was also part of the group of people who set up the Global Fund. Then United Nation’s Secretary General Kofi Anin called for the creation of a Global Fund that would allow countries who otherwise would never afford it to create their own programs to address the AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria crisis. Created in 2002, the Global Fund is now the world’s largest funder of AIDS, TB and Malaria programs in the developing world, and (RED) it’s highest private sector contributor.

Christoph’s story of seeing firsthand what the AIDS pandemic has done to people in Africa and how important ARV’s and (RED) money is today was incredibly motivating and energizing for me, personally, and for our partners. We at (RED) are so grateful to have him on our team.

We’re planning on video taping Christoph at our next meeting so that we can share his story and the work of the Global Fund with all of you. Stay tuned!

Jen @ (RED)