AIDS/LifeCycle

On June 5, 2016, I will get on my bike for the seventh time to ride more than 545 miles on a 7-day journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles, on the Ride to End AIDS. For me, this journey is about more than just getting on my bicycle and peddling from SF to LA, enjoying a beautiful route and the love bubble that is the AIDS/LifeCycle community. This journey is about the power that I have as one person to make a real difference by inspiring others, such as you to join the fight to end HIV/AIDS.  

Scientific advances in the global war against HIV/AIDS are being made every day, but at this time, there is no vaccine, and no cure... the surest things we have are PREVENTION and treatment... but it takes money.  Once again, to those of you, whose faith, support, and generous donations have powered my previous rides, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and I owe you a debt of gratitude. Together over the past 5 years you and I have raised over $60,000. We have truly made a difference. But the Ride doesn't end until AIDS ends… and according to a 2012 report, Every 9 ½ minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with the HIV virus.  So I am compelled to ride, and to ask for your help once again, because, well simply because... I can.... I must... we must all do what we can so that the children of today and their children will eventually live in a world in which HIV infection is a thing of the past. Of last report, Young adults and teens between 13 and 29 represent 39% of new HIV infections.

Lance and I are once again grateful for the generosity of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their incredible gift of encouraging philanthropy amongst their employees by generously matching our personal donations to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Last year with their help and that of generous friends, family and strangers, I raised $14,400. My goal this year is to beat last year, and with a little help from everyone, I know we can make it past $15,000!!

Not all of you live in the San Francisco Bay area – why should you donate to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation? The San Francisco AIDS Foundation works to end HIV in the city where it first took hold. Its mission is a radical 90% reduction in new infections in San Francisco by 2020. Its public policy work involves helping to develop and implement the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and the formulation of the HIV/AIDS components of national healthcare reform legislation. It is estimated that prevention programs have averted between 204,000 and 1,585,500 HIV infections between 1978 and 2000. But HIV prevention funding has declined each year since 2001, limiting the capacity of public health agencies and community-based organizations to implement proven interventions. The collective impact of behavioral interventions on HIV incidence will only be realized when such programs are fully implemented and scaled up to reach all populations at risk. Your support helps people in every corner of the country who are impacted by HIV and to prevent HIV infection across the nation. If San Francisco can realize it’s ambitious goals for 2020, then it becomes possible for every city across the country. 

So... PLEASE HELP ME REACH MY $15,000 GOAL to support the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's mission by making a gift in any amount because together we can do so much more than any of us alone to make a real difference to end HIV/AIDS.

With Gratitude and Love,

Pat