AIDS/Lifecycle: Supporting a worthy cause
Did you know that in California alone there are 151,000 people living with AIDS/HIV? Nationally, 70 percent of all new infections occurs in communities of color and people under the age of 25 are increasingly affected.
The costs associated, with medical care and treatment for a person with HIV, are about $20,000 per year. Access to life-saving drugs, clinical trials and state-of-the-art treatment helps those with the disease live a longer and better quality of life.
My colleague, Brittany, and I are hoping that to raise awareness both by fund raising and participation in a week long cycling event - the AIDS/Lifecycle. Over the course of seven days, we will travel five hundred and fifty six miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We will become part of a traveling community representing thousands of people who cannot ride with us. Each participant signs up and commits to a specific minimum donation to contribute to the federation of foundations sponsoring the rides.
AIDS/LifeCycle helps those living with HIV/AIDS gain greater independence and get the treatment and care they need. Prevention services geared towards high-risk populations, will ensure that future generations need not experience the same level of loss that we have faced in the last two decades.
We have been training for about 6 months and our longest ride in one day has been between 80 and 90 miles with plenty of recovery time. In the next week we will be riding up to 100 miles in a day, resting in the evenings before starting the next day’s long ride with only the prior evening's recovery time.
Every year that this event takes place, we've discovered that there is increased support; not only in the number of participants, but also in the amount of awareness that is generated.
Experience the event through the eyes of participants: a series of photos, podcasts and blogs
Aileen Brown and Brittany Schmitt are a part of our sales team. They are currently participating in the AIDS/LifeCycle event and will be back next week with a recap of their journey. Stay tuned.
Sheilah Jun 9, 2007
What a wonderful and worthy cause. Keep up the great work.
Sheilah