Cable Positive, the cable industry's national non-profit AIDS action organization, is honored to have our work in fighting HIV/AIDS recognized at this 16th Annual Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame Dinner.
We congratulate this year's outstanding honorees, many of whom have been strong allies in our work in the field of HIV/AIDS education and awareness. And we thank B&C for supporting Cable Positive as a co-beneficiary of tonight's event, along with the Broadcasters Foundation of America.
Entering our 15th year, Cable Positive has grown from a small, grassroots group of cable employees in 1992, to a national non-profit organization with hard-working chapters in Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Denver, New York, Philadelphia and Southern California. We are dedicated to HIV/AIDS education nationwide, in local communities across the United States, and in nations in need around the world. Our efforts are made possible by enlightened cable and telecommunications industry CEOs, leaders and activists committed to our mission.
Cable Positive's mission focuses with precision on HIV/AIDS education and awareness through national public-service campaigns in local communities where cable is an essential citizen, and into the 80 million households around the U.S. that cable's bold and creative programming reaches. Our efforts zero in on ending the destructive stigma surrounding the disease, which has kept people from getting much-needed care.
Until there is a cure for AIDS, cable and the communications industry have the resources and the ability to deliver the only vaccine currently available—education and information—to virtually every corner of the earth. We are also uniquely positioned to reach into thousands of local communities with grants to assist community-based organizations in getting their life-saving public-health messages on the air. Through Cable Positive, the cable industry has raised more than $16.5 million and donated over $1 billion in airtime to fund some 235 cable/community partnerships in 37 states.
HIV/AIDS is everywhere, but so is the technology of cable, broadband, the Internet and wireless. Our great strength as an industry—and Cable Positive's great value as an organization devoted to fighting HIV/AIDS—is that we are successful at getting our crucial HIV/AIDS educational messages distributed far and wide.
Your gift makes a difference every day in many, many lives. We will continue to fight against HIV/AIDS through Cable Positive's national-awareness campaigns. Through our unique Video On Demand initiative—available in 20 millions VOD-enabled households—we make HIV/AIDS-related programs and stories available anytime, day or night. And we'll continue to raise the level of understanding of HIV/AIDS through programs like our POP Awards (Positively Outstanding Programming), which honor outstanding HIV/AIDS-related cable television programming, and “Positive Voices”—our brand-new series of short documentaries immediately available for airing or for use on broadband.
Thank you for caring and for your time, your compassion and your support.
Sincerely,
Steve Villano
President and CEO
Cable Positive
