This June for the 12th year, I am riding in AIDS/LifeCycle – a 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to benefit the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. For the past 6 years, I have been a Top 50 Fundraiser and have personally collectively raised over $275,000 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, benefiting patients I work with on a daily basis. This year, I am set to pass an amount only 7 other people have accomplished = $300,000!

When I realized I had the talent of fundraising, my ultimate goal was to raise $300,000. I figured it would take me 20 rides! Time to raise my ultimate goal! Thank you, donors!

12 years ago, when I rode my first ride, I signed up for the ride because I had recently tested HIV negative and felt like I needed to give back to my community. Through these last 9 rides, I have faced and dealt with years of shame for being gay with internalized homophobia and have learned to accept and love myself for being gay. When I was a child, growing up in the 80’s, I lived in fear every day that I would one day die of AIDS. Getting tested for HIV was a fear that I faced every time I thought about getting tested, which is why I rarely got tested. I felt like I could not face my possible reality of becoming HIV positive and ultimate fear of dying of AIDS. I know that if I felt that way, there are so many others, many in our community, who feel the same way today. By raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for our community, I know that I am giving back and helping those who are still HIV negative get on PrEP, and those who are unknowingly HIV positive become undetectable so that San Francisco can be the first city in the world to STOP THE TRANSMISSION OF HIV.

Thank you for being a part of this journey and accomplishment!