Photo: Frank Farrell, Will Wilhelm and Bridgid Buckley collecting donations for Season of Concern after a performance of RENT at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights this summer.

Season of Concern, the Chicagoland theater community’s fundraising effort that provides care to people in our community who are experiencing the effects of catastrophic illness, announced that they recently distributed a total of $80,000 to 16 Chicago-area AIDS service organizations. Grant awards are distributed annually and support a variety of essential programs and services for those in the Chicago community in need.

Season of Concern Board member Richard Turner, chair of the Season of Concern Grants Committee, had this to say about this year’s grant recipients: “With many service providers delivering services while they struggle for financial support, Season of Concern is very pleased to be able to award these 16 grants. Our grants are modest, and we want the recipients to know that we recognize the depth and importance of their work.”

Season of Concern has awarded $5,000 to each of the following agencies: Alexian Brothers, The Boulevard of Chicago, CALOR, The Care2Prevent program at The University of Chicago, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Center on Halsted, Chicago House and Social Service Agency, The Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, Children’s Place Association, Heartland Alliance, Howard Brown Health, Legal Council for Health Justice, Open Door, The Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative, Sinai Health System and Test Positive Aware Network.

Since 1987, Season of Concern has distributed over $2.5 million to more than 35 different Chicago-based AIDS service organizations.

Created by Chicago theater artists to provide care for people in the theatre community living with AIDS-related illnesses, Season of Concern has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from generous artists and theatre patrons to benefit hundreds of people in the entertainment industry–actors, directors, designers, technicians, playwrights, stage managers–who are experiencing health-related emergencies and medical issues.

In addition, Season of Concern’s Biscotto-Miller Fund provides financial assistance to individuals in the Chicago theater community who are experiencing a catastrophic illness or a health-related emergency or event, including but not limited to HIV/AIDS. The fund was created in 1985 to honor the memory of stage manager Tommy Biscotto and actor J. Pat Miller.

Season of Concern also gives sustaining support to the Chicago office of The Actors Fund, the national human services organization that helps entertainment and performing arts professionals in theater, film, music, opera, television and dance through a broad spectrum of social, health, employment and housing programs that address their essential and critical needs. Funding provided by Season of Concern goes directly to the Chicago office of The Actors Fund Chicago, which oversees services for the entertainment community in Chicago and throughout the Midwest.