Spring is here and things are happening! We’re collecting items for our benefit auction, we’re honoring volunteers on Thursday at a free event at the Reid Park Zoo, and we’re preparing to re-open our office to people showing proof of vaccination/booster. And we’re honoring and remembering two community members whose lives and love impacted TIHAN immensely. We’re reaching out to you with some info and some love!
Scott Blades
Executive Director
Quick Links to This Month’s Articles
- Treasures for TIHAN Benefit News: Event Tickets are Now Available, We’re Accepting Donations of Auction Items, and An Exciting Entertainment Announcement
- Your Free Admission to a Volunteer Appreciation Event at the Reid Park Zoo This Thursday
- TIHAN Office to Begin Re-Opening for Visitors
- Job Openings at TIHAN
- Celebrating the Lives of Two Community Leaders This Week
Treasures for TIHAN Benefit News: Event Tickets are Now Available, We’re Accepting Donations of Auction Items, and An Exciting Entertainment Announcement
The most important benefit of the year to support TIHAN’s programs and services is rapidly approaching!
Event Registrations Now Available!
Visit https://paybee.io/virtual-event/tihan/1 to sign up for our signature fundraising event, a 10-day online auction (May 27-June 6) and a one-hour livestreaming event on June 4.
Free Admission (Kind Heart Admission): We want everyone to be able to enjoy the virtual event, so we’re offering a free admission!
Giving Heart Admission ($50): This level of participation allows you to enjoy the event and receive a Sweet Heart Favor Bag with some special gifts! Your bag will be available the week of May 30, and can be picked up at the TIHAN office. Delivery (within a limited area) will also be available.
Heart of Gold Admission ($75): This level includes a Sweet Heart Favor Bag, along with a raffle ticket to the Jim Click Millions for Tucson raffle, giving you a chance to win $5,000 cash, two round-trip first-class airline tickets to anywhere in the world, or a 2022 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid. Must be 21 to purchase this option.
We’re Accepting Your Donations of Auction Items
Would you or your business/organization like to contribute an item or a gift certificate to support the cause, and receive exposure in our community of hundreds of compassionate people who share your values? Gift certificates, event tickets, ceramics, jewelry, services, trips, antiques – we like to have a wide variety of items to auction off! Contact us — we can pick up your donation, or you can drop it off.
Auction items that you would like to donate or that you have collected for the event may be dropped off at the TIHAN office (2660 North 1st Avenue) from 8:30am-4:30pm Monday-Friday. Also, item pickup may be arranged by calling TIHAN at 520-299-6647.
Visit https://tihan.org/treasures-for-tihan/ to use the online form to tell us about the item you are donating.
Sponsorships Available:
Sponsorship levels begin at $500, and each level offers you a host of benefits, including free tickets, publicity, and great karma! Individuals or businesses can become an event sponsor.
Visit https://tihan.ejoinme.org/sponsor to sign on as a sponsor for our event!
We are excited to announce that our one-hour livestreaming event on June 4 will feature Billy Gilman!
Billy Gilman burst onto the national stage in 2000 releasing the hit single “One Voice.” His debut album was certified double platinum in the United States, and he was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest singer to ever reach #1 on the Billboard Top Country Album charts. He has sold ten million albums worldwide and garnered awards and nods from The Grammy’s, the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association, Billboard Magazine, and the American Music Association.
He was 11 years old at the time of his debut hit single “One Voice” and became the youngest artist to ever have a top 40 single on the country chart. His debut album also featured the hit single “Oklahoma.”
In 2014, Billy came out as gay. In 2016, he competed on the TV show The Voice, and was the runner-up on Season 11, where he performed hits by Adele (When We Were Young), Rachel Platten (Fight Song), and more.
In addition to performing and recording new albums, Billy does charity work, including for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (National Youth Chairman for six terms) and Soles4Souls, a shoe charity with proceeds going to purchase shoes for needy children worldwide. He is also a passionate spokesperson about mental health, gun violence, and suicide, topics in his hit single “One Voice,” His tours these days includes performances at Pride events, and he is excited to be joining us for Treasures for TIHAN on June 4, 2022.
Here’s the link to his hit single “One Voice.”
Your Free Admission to a Volunteer Appreciation Event at the Reid Park Zoo This Thursday
TIHAN volunteers and family member Appreciation Week. We appreciate you and all you do, and we’d like to invite you to an outdoor fun community event!
Park Zoo, taking place from 4:30pm-7:00pm. This year’s event will feature free admission into the Zoo, animal encounters, games, Zoo attractions, food, a cash bar, an opportunity to participate in a volunteer activity on-site with the Zoo, live entertainment provided by Mariachi Estrella Juvenil (at 5pm), and tables by local nonprofits and community partners such as TIHAN.
No registration or RSVP is necessary – just come to the zoo (located at 3400 Zoo Court, Tucson, AZ 85716). Please be sure and stop by our table at the event and say hello. We can’t wait to see you!rs and friends are invited to this free event at the Reid TIHAN and our volunteers will be part of a nonprofit community appreciation event this Thursday, April 21, as part of National Volunteer Appreciation Week. We appreciate you and all you do, and we’d like to invite you to an outdoor fun community event!
TIHAN volunteers and family members and friends are invited to this free event at the Reid Park Zoo, taking place from 4:30pm-7:00pm. This year’s event will feature free admission into the Zoo, animal encounters, games, Zoo attractions, food, a cash bar, an opportunity to participate in a volunteer activity on-site with the Zoo, live entertainment provided by Mariachi Estrella Juvenil (at 5pm), and tables by local nonprofits and community partners such as TIHAN.
No registration or RSVP is necessary – just come to the zoo (located at 3400 Zoo Court, Tucson, AZ 85716). Please be sure and stop by our table at the event and say hello. We can’t wait to see you!
TIHAN Office to Begin Re-Opening for Visitors
Starting May 2, TIHAN will be allowing visitors into our office again if you 1) show proof of being vaccinated and boosted, 2) wear a mask, and 3) have no COVID-19 symptoms. Please ring the doorbell and wait for us to come to you. We will have a shaded waiting area outside. Proof of vaccine/booster can be your vaccination card or a photo of your card. If you’d prefer or if you are not able to show proof of vaccination/booster, we can still meet with you outdoors (with a mask, please). We do ask that anyone who isn’t feeling well to please refrain from coming into the TIHAN office. CarePartners living with HIV are asked to make an appointment before coming by so we can be sure the Link Specialist volunteers are ready to assist you. THANK YOU!
Job Openings at TIHAN
We are currently recruiting for two positions:
1) Operations Manager – Full-Time Permanent Position
The Operations Manager manages the agency’s volunteer program and administrative volunteer staff, oversees the agency’s daily office operations (including maintaining databases, coordinating acknowledgement of donations, maintaining office equipment and systems, and working with vendors), supervises the volunteer recruitment and onboarding, provides program and fundraising support, and performs varied advanced administrative work as required. More job details are instructions for applying are available here
2) Admin Support – Temporary, Part-Time
While we recruit for the permanent position above, we are seeking admin help right now. Must have administrative experience, be proficient in Microsoft Office programs, and reliable. To apply for this temp position, email cover letter and resume to Scott@tihan.org
Celebrating the Lives of Two Community Leaders This Week
Naya Arbiter
Naya, who passed away last month, was the co-founder of Amity Foundation. In the 1980s as AIDS began ravaging our community, and addiction treatment programs refused to include people with HIV/AIDS, Naya made sure that Amity Foundation would welcome and help them when no one else would. She and Amity faced hostility for their inclusion. Decades later, Naya was still ensuring that Amity continued to be a beacon of hope to people living with HIV, as she offered Amity’s staff and culinary arts team to provide the meals for TIHAN’s Poz Café lunch program. Naya’s life was an inspiration, and we grieve her untimely passing. Here is a recent article in the Arizona Daily Star about Naya, her life and impact.
A Celebration of Life for Naya takes place this Sunday, April 24, at 11:00am outdoors in the Pavilion at Amity’s Circle Tree Ranch, 10500 E Tanque Verde Rd, Tucson, AZ. You are invited to attend. The venue will open at 10:00am to allow time for parking. The gathering will also be livestreamed through this link.
Glen Spencer
We also celebrate the life of Glen Spencer, the longtime executive director of Aunt Rita’s Foundation, one of the state’s most amazing AIDS Service organizations. Based in Phoenix, Glen came down to Tucson several years ago to visit Poz Café and was incredibly moved by our program and its focus on stigma reduction, peer support, and love and care. He made sure to work to help Aunt Rita’s providing funding for TIHAN’s Poz Café and other programs at TIHAN, and was a galvanizing force for support for people with HIV around the entire state, as well as HIV testing and treatment. A Celebration of Life is being held Tuesday, April 19 at 3:30pm in Phoenix. More information about Glen and his service is available here.
