Chloë Sevigny to Chair Annual LGBT Fundraiser, Jeffrey Fashion Cares

NEW YORK, NY - Jeffrey Fashion Cares, the annual fashion fundraiser benefiting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and those with HIV/AIDS, announced that Terrence Meck, founder and executive director of The Palette Fund, will receive its first annual Jeffrey Fashion Cares Community Leadership Award.

The award, honoring an individual or organization who has both professionally and personally benefited the lives of LGBT people and those living with HIV/AIDS, will be given at this year's Jeffrey Fashion Cares event, to be held at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on March 26. Oscar-nominated actress and fashion icon Chlo� Sevigny will be the Honorary Chair for this year's event, joined by Todd Sears and Dan Rothmann, who are returning as co-chairs for their ninth and eight years, respectively.

"We created the award to recognize people who have affected change on a wide range of fronts to the benefit of the LGBT community, much like Jeffrey Fashion Cares itself, which provides funding to organizations working on LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS, and at-risk youth," said Jeffrey Kalinsky, founder of Jeffrey Fashion Cares.

"Though the Palette Fund is a recent supporter of JFC, the work that Terrence has done to benefit these causes for many years with his directed giving, both through through the fund and personally, made him the obvious choice for our inaugural Community Leadership Award."

The Palette Fund has renewed its inaugural Diamond $100,000 sponsorship for this year's event, bringing its total donations to Jeffrey Fashion Cares to more than $300,000. For the first time, this year's event will also be sponsored by Lexus at the Platinum ($50,000) level, which will include bringing the all-new 2013 Lexus GS onto the Intrepid. The company joins fellow Platinum sponsor W Hotels Worldwide/Starwood Preferred Guests, as well as Gold sponsor Nordstrom.

Terrence Meck will receive the award for his work as the Executive Director of The Palette Fund, a private foundation that honors the legacy of his late partner Rand Harlan Skolnick through collaborative grant making and programs that value human rights and education.

Since its inception in 2009, the Palette Fund has granted more than $2.5 million to organizations working in a variety of programming areas, including the LGBT community, patient navigation, and nutrition.

Said Meck: "I am extremely honored to accept this award. As it is the only event that supports multiple LGBT/HIV organizations, and ensures over 90% of the dollars raised reach the beneficiaries, Jeffrey Fashion Cares models Palette's vision of efficient and collaborative grantmaking. I'm lucky to have the opportunity, through the Palette Fund, to carry out Rand's legacy every day. While we are a young foundation, this recognition inspires me to continue this important work in the LGBT community for many years to come."

Over the last eight years, Jeffrey Fashion Cares New York has raised nearly $4 million for LGBT, LGBT youth, and HIV/AIDS organizations in New York City. This year's event will raise funds through ticket sales and a silent auction for four organizations: Lambda Legal; Hetrick-Martin Institute; the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA); and Point Foundation.

Past sponsors of Jeffrey Fashion Cares have included Burberry, Christian Louboutin, Coach, Prada, Manolo Blahnik, Gucci, Valentino, and YSL. They all share a commitment to the LGBT community, a commitment more important than ever despite recent legislative and courtroom successes. Through their support of JFC, sponsors benefit an array of issues from LGBT health and legal equality to at-risk LGBT youth.

Jeffrey Fashion Cares was established in 1992 in Atlanta, GA, and in 2003 in New York by Jeffrey Kalinsky. The event was created to heighten awareness of the plight of people living with HIV/AIDS and members of the LGBTQ community. Over the past 17 years, Jeffrey Fashion Cares has raised over $9 million, via the Atlanta and New York events, for the LGBT community's most important charities and non-profit organizations, with 90% of every dollar raised going directly into the coffers of our beneficiaries. www.jeffreyfashioncares.org

"Jeffrey Fashion Cares NY is committed to supporting organizations that fight discrimination, support LGBT youth and provide life-saving services for those living with HIV/AIDS by raising funds and ensuring the highest possible percentage goes directly to the beneficiaries."

See the teaser video here: Jeffrey Fashion Cares 2012

The Palette Fund honors the legacy of Rand Harlan Skolnick through collaborative grantmaking and programs that value human rights and education. The Foundation focuses on Nutrition & Wellness, Patient Navigation and Queer Youth. The Fund seeks to continue and grow Skolnick's pioneering vision.

Rand's partner, Terrence Meck, developed the foundation after Rand's untimely death from Pancreatic Cancer in July of 2008. Since its inception, The Palette Fund has granted more than $1 million to various organizations and programs throughout the country. For more information, visit www.palettefund.org.

Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of the Harvey Milk High School, believes all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. Founded in 1979, the Hetrick-Martin Institute creates this environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth between the ages of 12 and 24 and their families.

Through a comprehensive package of direct services and referrals, Hetrick-Martin seeks to foster healthy youth development. Hetrick-Martin's staff promotes excellence in the delivery of youth services and uses its expertise to create innovative programs that other organizations may use as models. For more information, visit hmi.org.

Lambda Legal, founded in 1973, is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and people with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. Lambda Legal's landmark U.S. Supreme Court victory in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 finally ended the criminalization of gay and lesbian sexual intimacy in this country, and has been cited in more than 300 legal rulings since then.

Based in offices in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, Lambda Legal tackles a range of issues including marriage, relationships and parenting; employment discrimination; HIV; health care; transgender rights; youth issues; and the need for fair courts. For more information, please visit www.lambdalegal.org.

The AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA) is a leading HIV research and education organization. ACRIA tests the newest HIV therapies; undertakes cutting-edge research to understand better who has HIV and how to keep people with the disease healthy; provides life-saving HIV health information to disadvantaged people and communities around the world; and strengthens community-based groups across the U.S and the Caribbean through a comprehensive technical assistance program.

Additionally, through its Center on HIV & Aging, ACRIA is a recognized leader on the emerging issue of older adults and HIV. For more information please visit www.ACRIA.org.

Point Foundation (Point) is the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students of merit. Point provides financial support, leadership training, mentoring and hope to LGBT individuals who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Point provides its scholars with the financial ability to attend the nation's foremost higher educational institutions and its donors and mentors with the rare satisfaction of directly investing their resources and time in future generations of leaders.

More information is available at www.pointfoundation.org.