Knowing that every dollar raised by our board can help reduce the spread of AIDS means a lot to me. I have known people within the industry that were infected with HIV, and ultimately succumbed to this disease. The little time and services that I have to invest in Gift For Life is my way of honoring them. Much has been done to eliminate this disease, but so much more can be done go eradicate it. Every contribution to Gift For Life by members and others, whether in dollars or in volunteering, can be very meaningful.

Michael Lamarti
Managing Partner
Craft Marketing

Want to snag a photo of you and your peeps from our recent Gift for Life fundraiser, Kings and Queens Casino Night? Weren’t able to be there, but want to wallow in regret for having missed a great night? Well then, here you go—check out the photos from the party, courtesy of The Photo Group:

1. Go to thephotogroup.com

2. Click on Online Images

3. Enter your access code: gift4life

4. You’ll be brought to a page of thumbnails.  To enlarge a thumbnail for a better view, click on the image.  You can view that category “slide show” style by using the arrows at the top of the screen.

5. You can collect the images you like in a Light Box to review/download at a later time if you wish.  The images in your Light Box will remain there until you remove them.  To access your Light Box, click on the lightbulb icon on the top right of the screen.

6. The Photo Group offers many options regarding image download (individual images for web or print, entire categories, or your light box). Note: PC users will need to have an UnZip app installed to open the downloaded images.

7. To download images click on an image – the dialog box that appears will guide you with your choices for download.

Voila! Party pics delivered. Enjoy!

My connection to AIDS predates my connection to the stationery or gift industries. It stretches back to my college days in the early ’80s when, in polite circles, one didn’t die of AIDS; one died of pneumonia or some other equally “safe” sounding malady. Still, two dear friends were gone before their 25th birthdays, then a third by his 27th, at which point I vowed never to forget.

Being invited to join the Gift for Life Board of Directors is indeed an honor, bringing that conviction into a place of action. Surrounded by the most committed, extraordinary leaders in the industry—each with their own memory of someone lost to HIV/AIDS—it’s hard not to feel the palpable impact we could have.

Multiply that by the number of vendors, sales agencies, and industry players that could join us in the fight, and, well…. Just imagine the possibilities.

Some days, it seems the rest of the world has pushed our cause to the back burner, yet the people who sit around this table remain doggedly determined to do their part in preventing AIDS from robbing us of even one more friend. We’re upbeat, enthusiastic, hard working, and dedicated, channeling our collective energy to help others…come hell or high water.

There’s much work to be done. Please join us.

Cinda Baxter
Consultant, speaker
Always Upward and The 3/50 Project

The number crunching is done, the calculator put away…and the numbers are official. Gift for Life is happy to announce that “Kings and Queens Casino Night” raised more than $100,000 for our fight against AIDS. Sweet.

This may have been our eighteenth year hosting a soiree, but make no mistake—the annual GFL get-together has been reinvented to become the gift, home, and stationery industry’s coolest not-your-grandma’s-fundraiser bash. If you’ve ever wanted to rub elbows with movers and shakers in an environment where everyone kicks back and loosens up, well…here you go.

Quoting Jenny Hammons, GFL Chair:

“This year’s event focused on fun and games as well as the chance to meet and greet across the industry. To date we have raised more than $4 million for HIV/AIDS research and assistance through the generous help of partners and party attendees.  We look forward to seeing everyone in January 2011.”

So what did you miss if you didn’t make your way down 11th Avenue to la.Venue that night? Casino-style gaming, food, drink, a DJ, prize drawings, and a silent auction with some seriously cool loot:

• Sonoma Valley Wine Tour from Alexander Valley Vineyards, Dry Creek Vineyard and Murphy-Goode Winery
• Gift certificates from Archipelago Botanicals, A Simple Touch Spa, and ICU Eyewear
• Premium seats for both Yankees and Mets games
• Tickets to a Broadway show
• Fashions from Tracy Reese, Chado Ralph Rucci, and Diego Binetti
• Designer totes and handbags from Toss Designs, Rebagz Eco-Chic Handbags, Bungalow, Kathy L. Barrett Selections, Kate & Sara Handbags, and Anna Griffin
• Customized bins by Oscar de la Renta and Camilla Staerk for Vipp Home
• Home accessories from Two’s Company, John Derian, John Pomp Studios, Kravet Inc., and Thistle & Bee

Don’t miss out on next year’s celebration; subscribe to our email updates or sign up for our RSS feed to be among the first to hear all about the 2011 party. You never know who you might meet (or beat) at the blackjack table….

I felt very honored to be asked to join the Board of GFL, I believe so strongly in the work that they have done over the years. I’ve been involved in the Gift Industry for what seems my entire life and it has been an absolutely fabulous opportunity and experience. Giving back to this community is so important to me; my life has been so blessed by my involvement in this industry.

I don’t think there is anyone who has not been touched by this disease in one way or the other; our industry in particular has seen so many wonderful people impacted, but hopefully, the impact can be positive as well. I had a wonderful mentor, business partner and father, Bert Tonkin who showed me the value of philanthropy; I hope I can follow his lead and offer some support to this wonderful cause.  I appreciate the opportunity to help in any way that I can.

Wendy Tonkin
President
Western Exhibitors, Inc.

Everyone recognizes an iconic, chubby piggy bank image—one that typically conjures up fond childhood memories (of either filling it or busting into the thing, depending on your stance). So why not use that familiar symbol to garner support in the fight against AIDS?

Why not, indeed.

We’re proud to announce the Gift for Life Product Design Competition, an creative concept initiated by the New York International Gift Fair, as a clever way to engage both new and established designers while raising industry awareness of our cause. Moneys raised through the competition will flow through GFL to benefit DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.

From the NYIGF website:

The theme of the inaugural competition is “Make Change,” which requires designers to submit a piggy bank design which reinvents the iconic classic—or more contemporary digital coin collectors and counters—with unique and innovative elements.  While banks can be dramatically re-imagined, they must retain their functional aspect and be a repository for money.

The top 20 juried finalists’ banks will be on display at the summer 2010 NYIGF, and some 40,000+ market participants—including designers, manufacturers, sales agencies, retailers and press—will be invited to vote for their favorite design.  The design receiving the highest number of votes will win the People’s Choice Award.  In addition to the People’s Choice Award, a panel of celebrity designer judges will review all submissions and bestow one exclusive Designer Distinction Award to their collective favorite.

Winners of both the People’s Choice Award and the Designer Distinction Award will receive complimentary exhibition space (valued at $3,700) for the winter 2011 NYIGF. 

A tax-deductible application fee of $50 is required to enter the competition, along with a creative prototype, which will be returned upon request.  Submissions are due by June 15.

So what are you waiting for? Grab that little piggy, and get ready for market!

Click here to apply for the competition
Click here for updates about the competition

That’s right—we’ve got new digs, folks. The sofa cushions are fluffed, the railing polished, and the ice tea poured. C’mon in, and make yourselves at home.

As long as we’re sitting down for a chat…. Did you know that the gift, home, and stationery industries share one common cause? One non-profit focus? That’s right—Gift for Life. You see, over the years, too many of us have lost friends and peers to AIDS, and recognize that while the topic may not be in the headlines most days, it still lurks in the corners. It steals away talented souls with kind hearts. It robs us of those who have more life to live and more talent to give.

It cheats of us all, in the end, which is why we’re so determined to fight back.

You’ll be seeing a lot more of Gift for Life in the future—here on the blog. And on Facebook. And on Twitter. Not enough info? Sign up for e-blasts any time there’s news. We’re more than happy to share.

So kick back, settle in, and click your way through the links at the top of the page. Peruse the “In their words” posts written by board members, sharing their thoughts about being part of our mission (shown below, with more to come). Get to know us…

…then jump in and join us. Together, we can move mountains.

I was at the first meeting of Gift for Life at the National Stationery Show in the early 1990s, but I am not a founding member. However, I did join the board early on as an editor on one of the gift trade magazines.

I was eager to get involved with Gift for Life for several reasons. First, I knew a few of the super-talented folks in our industry whom we had already lost to AIDS. Second, I had young children and wanted to work to ensure that a vaccine or cure might be found in their lifetime, so they would not have to worry about the threat of HIV/AIDS.

Over the years, I have remained on the board as a representative of the various trade magazines for which I’ve worked, as well as independently when I was between permanent positions. I enjoy the camraderie of the board members and, most important, the opportunity to help to raise funds to fight HIV/AIDS worldwide.

It’s an honor to be a board member of Gift for Life.

Kathy Krassner
Krassner Communications

I’ve been in the home furnishings business for most of my working career as a journalist and watched the early onslaught of AIDS and what it did to the creative heart and soul of the industry.

One always has noble intentions which are unfortunately often tempered by the realities of busy work schedules and being pulled in many directions by many people at many times.

So when I learned more about Gift for Life, it seemed like it was the right organization for me to get involved with. It was industry-centric, it was of a scale that was manageable given my available time and it was the chance to work with people in the business — some of whom I’ve known forever and some who are new to me — that I knew had the same values. That’s a pretty wonderful combination and I consider joining the board of Gift for Life one of the better things I’ve done in my life.

Warren Shoulberg
Editor-in-Chief
Home Furnishings New Magazine

For me, being asked to serve on the Board of Directors for Gift For Life was both a professional honor, and a deeply personal experience.  Each hour I spend to help the board raise funds to combat and cure this horrible disease is an hour I spend remembering a dear friend lost or a dear friend given more time by medical breakthroughs discovered by research the board supports.

The people who serve on the Gift for Life board are industry leaders, with schedules overflowing with commitments.  I am honored to work with a group so generous and so dedicated to this worthy cause.  “Charity begins at home” it is said, and it is appropriate that a gift/home industry ravaged by the loss of so many talented colleagues should band together to help our own, and hopefully many, many others.

Debra Gold
Gold & Company