Events in Sacramento:
Please join us for Sacramento’s World AIDS Day service on Tuesday, December 1st at 6:00 pm at the Reading Entertainment Tower Theater.
Reading Entertainment Tower Theater
2508 Land Park Drive
(off of Broadway)
916-442-4700
Join the Sacramento HIV/AIDS community, your friends and neighbors for a special gathering. Together, we remember those we've lost to HIV/AIDS, examine the present epidemic and explore what our community can do to end new HIV infections in Sacramento in 5 years. Please join us for the Sacramento’s World AIDS Day service.
For more information,please contact:
Jon Benorden, World AIDS Day 2009 Chair
916.914.6246
jbenorden@caresclinic.org
From Outword Magazine:
World AIDS Day Calls for an End to Complacency
The Center for AIDS Research, Education and Services (CARES) is tired of complacency. “With over 4,200 people living with HIV/AIDS in Sacramento County, we cannot afford to treat this disease as if it will disappear on its own,” said Bob Kamrath, Executive Director at CARES.
The Sacramento nonprofit is known as a leader in California for providing easy access to HIV testing, comprehensive clinical services and outreach to those with high risk to HIV. With several other local community groups, CARES is planning a World AIDS Day event on December 1 at the Tower Theatre on Land Park Drive.
Established in 1988 by the World Health Organization, the annual worldwide event brings constructive attention to local governments, faith organizations, community groups and individuals about the disease’s grave threat. This year, local organizers say the event is expected to be bigger than anything in recent memory — due in large part to CARES’ five year initiative to end all new cases of HIV in the region.
“Sacramento’s World AIDS Day is an opportunity for us to very publicly say, ‘No more.’ We must come together as a region to remember friends we have lost, and fight for those who continue to be affected every day,” said Kamrath. “As we embark on our goal to end all new cases of HIV in the region, we ask the community to visibly show their support by attending this important event.”
The 2009 theme, “Past/Present/Future,” will remember individuals lost to the disease, discuss the present epidemic, and focus on ending new HIV infections in the greater Sacramento area. The event will include speeches from Sister Mary Redempta and Dr. Donna DeFreitas. Both speakers will help attendees understand the dire need for more education, particularly in youth populations, and touch on the disproportionate numbers of African-Americans and Hispanics who carry the disease.
Miguel Diaz, an HIV+ community member, will discuss how the disease has changed his life, and how he’s become involved in community advocacy as a result. Through his story, CARES hopes the public will better understand the seriousness of HIV/AIDS in the area. In Sacramento alone, over 20 percent of people who have the disease don’t know that they have it.
During the December 1 event, organizers will be displaying panels from the National AIDS Memorial Quilt, the largest community art project in the world. The panels contain names of people from the Sacramento area who have passed away. There will be a short tutorial about the quilt project, including how to properly read the pieces. Individuals who have lost a loved one to HIV/AIDS are invited to participate in a remembrance ceremony by placing flowers and messages in a special vase.
For more information, please contact Jon Benorden at 916-914-6246 or at jbenorden@caresclinic.org.
Or visit the following web sites:
http://www.caresclinic.org/
http://www.areyouthedifference.org/
Click on flyer below to view full size.
This is going to be an incredible event. Come out and show your support, and find out how we can all help end HIV in 5 years in Sacramento!
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