Riding To End AIDS - This Time, It's Personal

UPDATE: In just 3 days, we will be riding out of San Francisco to start our journey, and I'm so grateful for all the support! I will be posting brief updates to a new blog (pedaldancer.wordpress.com), and you can follow us along the route through the main AIDS/LifeCycle website which will have photos, video and podcasts daily.

If you haven't had the chance to donate yet, there is still plenty of time - just click that orange button on the right! :-)

I can no longer say that I have never lost a friend to HIV/AIDS (or related complications) - my friend Paul passed away on March 1st, 2010.


Paul was one of those profoundly inspiring people who changed lives with everything he did. He lived with HIV for 11 years and fought an aggressive cancer for the last 2 years, but refused to let either rule his life. Even with a g-tube and a trach, through months of treatments, he kept working and pursued his passions: riding his bike, and helping others with HIV/AIDS. Even in the most difficult moments, he always managed to find some humour, and remained determined to be a part of the AIDS/Lifecycle ride again this year.

On June 6th this year, Paul will be with us in spirit when I ride out of San Francisco with over 2000 other riders (plus several hundred volunteers) to cycle 545 miles to Los Angeles in just 7 days, winding our way through California from one temporary tent city to another. This ride was an important part of Paul?s life, so it is fitting to honour and remember him by doing what he loved: riding his bike for a cause, helping others, and raising money for the services that he once relied on. He would be proud to be celebrated this way, so I am dedicating my 6th AIDS/LifeCycle ride to him.


HIV/AIDS still kills. Lack of knowledge and information about his disease kills, especially when a significant portion of HIV-infected people have no idea they are even infected. Lack of health insurance may even kill: HIV treatments often require a combination of multiple drugs, and a 1-month supply for just one of those drugs can cost up to $900 without insurance. When your budget forces you to choose between paying rent, basic food, or the HIV drugs that keep you alive and healthy, life gets very difficult.


Thankfully, the HIV/AIDS services provided by the Goodman clinic and LAGLC are designed to tackle all of those issues: providing outreach and education, prevention programs, medical services and prescriptions to those who need them but have nowhere else to turn. They are literally keeping people alive, and there is an ever greater need for their services - for many of their clients, they are the place of last resort.

Cuts in grants and government funding have significantly reduced the money that the Clinic receives to provide those services, leaving a big hole in their budget. Private donations such as the money raised by AIDS/LifeCycle can help to ensure that they will not have to turn people away, with nowhere to go. Please help us fill that gap, and ensure they can continue to provide the services that are so urgently needed. Lives now literally depend on this.

Every dollar counts, and you can even spread the donation over several months - small amounts add up! Can you spare just a dollar a day by going without that extra coffee or snack? Do that for 3 months, and you can donate $92 - keep going for 6 months and make it $184. Bet a friend or family or your boss to match that, and you can double or triple it..... For just a dollar or more a day, you're helping to keep people alive and well.
 

Just click on the orange "Donate to support Chris" button on this page, enter your donation details and confirm - you're done! It's that simple to be a hero.


Thank you so much for your support: your generosity is what makes this possible, and saves many lives. You are making a very real difference!


Photo journals of our adventures on the road are online at Chrise(dot)smugmug(dot)com/ALC

My Personal Web Log

If you prefer to make your donation by check, please click here for a printable donation form.