The “rush to zero” is on and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is on-board to help with a $25,000 donation to (RED) in honor of the extraordinary company of Spider-Man:Turn Off the Dark and their efforts raising $232,000 during BC/EFA’s spring fundraising campaign.

From June 1-10, 2012, the (RED)Rush to Zero campaign will raise funds and awareness to help deliver an AIDS-free generation by 2015, a critical milestone in the fight against AIDS.

(RED) was co-founded by rock music legend Bono, who, with the Edge, recently made his Broadway debut writing the music and lyrics for the record-breaking, smash hit musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, currently playing to sold-out audiences on Broadway at the Foxwoods Theatre.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is proud to support (RED) on behalf of the entire Broadway community and especially the company of Spider-Man.

“BC/EFA is proud to make this special donation to (RED) in honor of the extraordinary efforts of the company of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark in our fundraising campaign this season,” said BC/EFA Executive Director Tom Viola. “An incomparable stage management team and the ever-exuberant Green Goblin himself, Patrick Page, led the charge onstage and behind the scenes, resulting in a record-setting fundraising effort. Because of their generosity of spirit, Broadway Cares is able, through this special gift to (RED), to be a part of Bono’s commitment to halt the spread of AIDS in Africa.”

Playbill, the exclusive magazine for Broadway and Off-Broadway theatergoers, also contributed to Broadway’s support of the (RED)Rush to Zero campaign by donating full-page ad space in this month’s edition.

Today and every day 1,000 babies are born with HIV. By 2015 that number can be close to zero.

(RED)Rush to Zero is a 10-day campaign of in-person and digital events and experiences bringing together brands, celebrities, gamers, music fans and consumers around the world, to raise funding and awareness.

There are lots of different ways to get involved with (RED)Rush to Zero – from buying a (RED) product to playing in the global video game tournament (RED)Rush Games on your Xbox or PlayStation; from sponsoring a bunch of women who are driving across Europe to raise money in the Cash & Rocket (RED) Tour to getting the first track from the forthcoming (RED) Hot and FELA album. Learn more at redrush.com.

The virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is part of (RED)’s eight Millennium Development Goals, which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS by the target date of 2015.

“This is an attainable goal, but it isn’t a done deal,” (RED) CEO Deborah Dugan said. “We find ourselves in a time when the global economy threatens public sector funding for this effort. Now would be the absolute worst time to take our foot off the gas and lose the momentum we have built in the fight against AIDS thanks, in large part, to the ability to provide life-saving anti-retroviral drugs to millions of people over the past decade.”

In 2006, Bono and Bobby Shriver launched Product (RED) to raise money from businesses to buy AIDS drugs for people in Africa unable to afford them. It has since expanded to include a variety of initiatives, with proceeds going to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

(RED) partners and events have generated more than $180 million for the Global Fund. This money has supported HIV/AIDS programs that have reached more than 7.5 million people affected by AIDS in Africa.