Today is World AIDS Day, the day that is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

This day and every day the vital work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation continues worldwide, and there are many ways in which we can help the EJAF's fundraising activities. The EJAF has just announced that Elton and David Furnish are to hold one of their famous OUT OF THE CLOSET events this month in London, England. From Friday 11 December, Elton and David will clear out their closets at a special pop-up shop in central London, with 100% of sales to benefit EJAF. Many eltonjohn.com visitors have attended these events in the past and have come away with wonderful items from Elton's extraordinary wardrobe! We will publish more information about Out of the Closet as soon as it is available.

If you are shopping for Christmas or holiday presents, we whole-heartedly recommend a wonderful new book entitled Dear Me: A Letter To My Sixteen-Year-Old Self , with foreword and a Dear Me letter by Elton, and edited by Joseph Galliano, the book is recently published by Simon & Schuster. In Dear Me, some of the world's best loved personalities have written a letter to their 16-year-old selves. These range from the compassionate to the shocking, via hilarity and heartbreak, but they all have one thing in common: they offer a unique glimpse at the teenagers who grew up to be these famous individuals. Dear Me is the perfect gift for anyone, and £1 from each copy sold will be given to the EJAF. Visit dearmebooks.com, buy a copy of the book, help the EJAF and maybe register your pearls of wisdom that you would like to have known when you were sixteen!

Meanwhile in New York, the EJAF and Candela, along with America's department store Macy's, are partnering this holiday season to sell a limited edition Holiday-scented candle to benefit EJAF's grant-making initiatives. Priced at $25.00, this special edition candle will be sold through Macy's department stores nationwide, as well as through macys.com. "This holiday season, the gift of candlelight can also be the gift of life, because a portion of the proceeds from each candle will support EJAF's life-saving mission to bring effective HIV prevention programming to men, women, and children across the Americas and the Caribbean who are the most at-risk and the most vulnerable to HIV infection," said Elton. "I love candles, and it has been a great pleasure to work with Candela to create just the right scent to put everyone in the holiday spirit."