The lunch around the world concept was started in 2001 by an Elton John fan, who had an idea to celebrate Elton John's birthday with other fans over lunch or dinner. The guests would be asked to make a donation to Elton John's charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation. With the help of Elton John's official website, eltonjohn.com, the LATW concept has spread to fans around the world. Many LATW's are held each year around the world as fundraisers for the EJAF. As of January 2007, over $137,000 has been raised by LATW's to benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation. Please visit eltonjohn.com's LATW section for more news and stories about Lunch Around the World.

LATW Boston actually started in March of 2004 when a group of about 40 fans got together at a restaurant north of Boston for lunch on a Saturday Afternoon to celebrate Elton John's birthday.
Debbie Piemonte took over as host in 2006 and named the event LATW 'Boston Style' featuring a Tribute show in honor of Elton John. Thanks to Debbie Piemonte's hard work in organizing the fundraiser, LATW Boston Style has been a huge success, in 2007 raising over $2,500 dollars for EJAF. "Yellow Brick Road", an Elton John tribute band from Augusta, Maine, performed at the event. The five-piece band, headed by Gerald Brann as Elton John, drew rave reviews from everyone who attended the event and are officially endorsed by the Elton John Fan Club "Hercules".

This year Debbie headed the event again, and "Yellow Brick Road" came back for an encore. This time it was a 'concert' at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, Mass. There was another raffle and silent auction to help raise money for the EJAF. LATW Boston Style 2008 was very successful with over 300 guests in attendance with Boston's WCVB-Channel 5 news anchor David Brown Hosting and WROR-FM Boston radio's street team on hand. Next year Debbie is again heading the event at the Regent Theatre and she is bringing "Yellow Brick Road" back again. Donations are being accepted now! And there's always a need for volunteers to help make this event a success. Please contact Debbie if you'd like to volunteer or make a donation.

Thank you for joining us in the fight against AIDS.