Sunday, March 7 – Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco

Academy of Friends (AoF) will go “Behind the Seams: A Salute to Fashion in Film” on March 7 in honor of its 30th annual fundraising gala to benefit 11 Bay Area-based HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Fundraising organizers will simulcast the Academy Awards™ at the gala between 5 p.m. – 11 p.m. at Ft. Mason Festival Pavilion in San Francisco. Guests will sample fine wine and cuisine from many of San Francisco’s top restaurants and wineries and bid on luxury items in the silent auction. The evening will culminate with dancing and a live drawing to win a 2010 Audi A4 from Royal Motors of San Francisco.

“This year’s gala promises to be the best yet,” said Mike Horak, Executive Director of Academy of Friends. “We look forward to hosting the entire Bay Area community on March 7 for an evening promised to be filled with the best food, wine and fashion, mixed with a few surprises that only San Francisco can offer.”

Gala tickets for the 2010 Academy of Friends Gala and Audi A4 raffle are currently on sale. To purchase tickets and for more information visit www.AcademyofFriends.org or call the AoF office at (415) 995-9890.

About Academy of Friends

Since 1980, Academy of Friends annually produces the world’s premier Academy Awards™ Night Charity Gala as the centerpiece of its efforts to raise funds, award donations, and encourage volunteerism that benefit a diverse set of HIV/AIDS direct care and prevention education agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since its founding, AOF has given over $7.5 million to more than 70 HIV/AIDS service organizations and will continue its work until the pandemic has passed.

2009-2010 Corporate Sponsors

AT&T · Bauer’s Transportation · Baume et Mercier USA · Bloomingdales · Clear Channel · Diesel USA · Emporio Armani · Fiji Water · Gold’s Gym · Gump’s · John Murray Productions · John Varvatos · McCune Audio, Video and Lighting · Merryvale Vineyards · Nordstrom · Omni San Francisco Hotel · Royal Motor Sales · San Francisco Opera · Shreve & Co. · Smirnoff · Sterling Bank & Trust / Seligman Family Foundation · The Studio Collection by Blueprint Studios · Westfield San Francisco Centre · Winslow & Associates, Inc. · 7x7 Magazine · SF Exclusive Radio Partners: Star 101.3 · 98.1 Kiss FM · Wild 94.9