Charlize Theron and Sheryl Lee Ralph to Be Honored at Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS
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The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation is finalizing the pieces of its next fundraising gala, the Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS, and has zeroed in on a pair of honorees. Charlize Theron and Sheryl Lee Ralph are confirmed to receive the night’s top awards at a Sept. 15 gala held at West Hollywood Park in Los Angeles.
Both have focused their respective foundations on the fight to end the disease; Theron through her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and Ralph through the Diva Foundation.
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“The fight against HIV/AIDS has always been close to my heart from my childhood in South Africa to my advocacy for African youth today,” said Theron in a statement. “Witnessing the gravity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic first-hand fueled my commitment to raise awareness and funding for the cause and start my organization, the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which focuses on the health, education, and safety of youth living in Southern Africa. I’m incredibly grateful to The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation for recognizing my work by honoring me with The Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS Award at this year’s gala.”
Ralph launched her foundation as a tribute to the many friends she lost to the epidemic during her days on Broadway. “As I stepped into the bright lights of Broadway as an original company member of Dreamgirls, AIDS made an entrance that would be devastating up and down Broadway blowing out the flame of life like candles on a birthday cake,” she explained. “As a young person, I was forever changed standing witness to such an ugly time in America. Seeing how marginalized people were left out of the AIDS conversation. And so in a commitment to raise awareness, I created the divinely inspired, victoriously aware Diva Foundation as a living memorial to the many friends I lost to the disease.”
The gala, sponsored by Gilead Sciences with support from American Airlines, will be a seated dinner for 350 guests and include a program featuring a live performer, a live auction in partnership with Christie’s and a peek at exclusive items from the Elizabeth Taylor Archive.
