Blog

………………………Elizabeth Glaser was one incredible woman….Courageous to the end…….It has been 30 years since Elizabeth Glaser had been infected with the Aids virus…..In 1981 Elizabeth Glaser needed blood transfusions while giving birth to her daughter Ariel. Unkowningly she had gotten the Aids virus from this tainted blood. She passed it on to her daughter through breast feeding, and then her son Jake contracted the virus in utero before they realized what had happened. At the time there were no medications for children. Ariel passed away in 1988, the same year Elizabeth and two of her friends started the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation. Her two good friends, Susan DeLaurentis and Susie Zeegen were also mothers, and the three organized the foundation. The foundation is a non profit organization dedicated to the  prevention of Pediatric HIV infection, and eliminating Pediatric Aids through research, advocacy, prevention, and treatment programs…..I had read all of the stories about Elizabeth and her family, and was touched to the core of my being. Jac and I had already lost many very close friends because of this dreadful disease……In 1988, the year that the foundation was started, Rose Marie Bravo, who was the head of I Magnin, a wonderful high end store on the west coast, approached me to do a Fall trunk show for the store. I said yes under the condition that it was linked to a charity, and I wanted to do it for the new Elizabeth Glaser Foundation. Rose Marie was all for it…now we had to convince Elizabeth to come on board……At first she was hesitant. She had not yet been a part of a function or charity event that wasn’t held and organized by her foundation and her people. I assured her that she and the ladies would have final approval for every detail, and that opening up the foundation to other venues would be a good thing…….We just wanted to make money for her and her foundation……I met with Elizabeth and flew out to California to meet with her and Susan and Susie just to make sure all her concerns were taken care of. We made money by selling  the tee shirt I designed of children holding hands. It was a very naive sweet design and Elizabeth liked it very much….We sold them at the event and in store kiosks as well as lots of money made for the tickets sales to the evening fashion show under a huge tent. It was a successful event, and every ticket was sold out, and we decided to sell standing room only tickets too. The demand was way beyond what we had hoped for and people just wanted to come and support Elizabeth. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, and something I will never forget. The photo is of Elizabeth, Rose Marie and myself….I like to think that I opened the ladies eyes to the possibility of all the money to be made for the foundation since this was the very first event of its’ kind for Elizabeth….Elizabeth and the ladies later organized many events around the country and they had a yearly event in NYC which I was always a part of. I was happy to volunteer my time. It was like a carnival fair with booths and a dunking pool where many celebrates took part. Many of the celebrates took shifts manning the different booths….and the dunking pool!!!It went on all day into the early evening, and families bought tickets, and people would come and go through the entire time it was open….They were very special events, and it’s too bad they stopped having them…..Maybe some of you New Yorkers came to one of the fairs?……………..Elizabeth was an incredible woman, and I am so honored to have met her. Elizabeth  lost her battle with the virus in 1994, but the fight continues. Michael Glaser and Elizabeth’s son Jake has continued in his mother and sister’s names to carry on with the foundation…..If you ever wanted to donate to a cause, but weren’t sure which one……I can tell you giving to these children and this cause will warm your hearts, and make you feel proud too.