Spokespersons for a Cause

30 Years of Living, Anniversary of First Case of AIDS

The goals of any fundraising effort are to have maximum participation and raise as much money as possible. The organizers of the 10th annual AIDS/LifeCycle have high hopes they will accomplish the latter when their event kicks off in June … but have already succeeded in accomplishing the former. For only the second time in the history of AIDS/LifeCycle — the world’s largest annual HIV/AIDS fundraising event — organizers have closed the event to new rider registrations.

Approximately 2,500 people from 40 states and nine countries will begin the seven-day ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles on June 5, the 30th anniversary of the day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention first reported cases of AIDS. The organizers and beneficiaries of AIDS/LifeCycle, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation, predict that the participants in AIDS/LifeCycle 10 will break the event’s fundraising record of $12.3 million, set in 2008.
“The fact that we’ve reached capacity for AIDS/LifeCycle months before it begins is a real testament to the power and transforming experience of this incredible event,” said L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Chief Executive Officer Lorri L. Jean. “People register for AIDS/LifeCycle not only because they want to do something heroic to prevent new HIV infections while making a difference in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS, but because they want to be part of the incredible community that’s formed on this event.”

According to ALC Director Michael Barron, the only other time registration was closed was three years ago; it was the year prior to that when the agencies decided that “more is not necessarily better,” said Barron.
“Even though more riders might bring in more money, it might make the experience suffer.”

Barron admits that there are a number of people disappointed that they will not be able to register and participate, but logistics also played a part in the decision. The campsites and the route, points out Barron, can support approximately 2,500. (Currently 3,900 have registered, but attrition will bring that number down.)

Still, ALC expects to raise a record amount of dollars this year, thanks to individual riders and roadies – volunteers who help run campsites and rest stops – who have stepped up their fundraising game. Each rider is expected to raise a minimum of $3,000; with two months remaining before the start of the ride, in fact, one lone rider had already raised $28,000. Roadies have no fundraising expectation, said Barron, although they typically raise an average of about $600.

One cyclist who hopes to more than triple the minimum fundraising requirement is Gary Graves, a small business owner from Fullerton, Calif., who rides with Team OC. The 42-year-old Graves, who will be riding for the second consecutive year, wants to raise $10,000 for the 22-member strong Team OC. He fell in with the cycling group in 2009, when he owned nothing more than a beach cruiser: “I quickly realized I needed a new bike.”

Graves says the members of Team OC – whose tagline is “Nobody left behind” – took him under their wing and prepared him for the 2010 ALC as well as the Orange County Ride for AIDS last October.
“I have always looked for a way to get more involved with the gay and lesbian community,” said Graves, who, along with his partner, has watched a number of friends lose their battle with AIDS over the years. “I think everybody should give back to their community in some way.”

His $10,000 goal – he brought in $7,500 last year – was set to mark the 10 years of ALC. But there is an even more significant anniversary in 2011: the 30th anniversary of AIDS in the U.S. This year the first day of the ride happens to fall on the exact date the Centers for Disease Control reported the first cases of AIDS.
“The anniversary has really been on everyone’s mind,” said Barron, adding that the historic date will be acknowledged in some way, but specific plans have not been made.
“That is still up for discussion,” he said. “The problem we have is that it is not a celebration of the disease but our community’s response to disease.”

The coinciding of the anniversary with the first day of ALC 10 was announced at ALC 9, and since then it has propelled registrants to raise money faster and in larger amounts, says Barron. The start of the ride on June 5 will most certainly be an emotional time for everyone involved.

Christopher Vasquez, 28, was born two years after this anniversary, but says he has come to a greater understanding of the disease after getting to know other riders last year.
“I think a lot of people in my generation have never had to deal with the widespread effect of AIDS,” said Vasquez. “It kind of brings it back into perspective.”

He added that many people his age take the treatments for granted; they do not consider the ramifications of having unsafe sex because of the medications that exist to treat HIV/AIDS. However, he says his eyes were opened last year – his first time participating in ALC – when he met a number of people who are either living with HIV/AIDS or have lost friends and loved ones.

Shortly after relocating to San Francisco in 2009 he saw a poster for ALC. “Ride a bike to L.A.? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of,” he thought to himself. But a friend told him more about the ride and convinced him to get a bike and start training.
“I just hit up all my friends, continuously begging people to donate,” said Vasquez, who rides with the Deloitte team.

His strategy this year is the same, although he admits he has gotten off to a slow start. He’s going to have to make a big push to exceed his $5,700 total from 2010, especially considering the majority of his fundraising comes in low-dollar donations ($10, $20, $50). But like most, the excitement ramps up as the ride draws closer, and achieving fundraising goals turns out to be not a huge problem.

Likewise, Graves says he is “asking everybody that I know” to contribute. It’s not easy, as his Orange County home is known for being extremely conservative, and not always willing to open their pocketbooks for what many still deem a “gay” cause.
However, says Graves, “Everybody knows somebody, has a relative, or a friend of a friend that has been affected by AIDS.”

At a time when most states are cutting budgets, including services like those for HIV/AIDS clients, events like ALC are more important than ever. California, which has been suffering through a budget crisis among the worst in the nation, is no exception.
“People in both cities (Los Angeles and San Francisco) have experienced firsthand how the cuts in HIV/AIDS services have affected their own community,” said Barron, who pointed to the closing of the AIDS Clearing House 18 months ago as an example of how dire the situation is.
“That money just dried up.”

Raising a record amount of money for California health services is only one aspect of the ride, with fostering a weeklong environment of goodwill, awareness and camaraderie also paramount to the ride’s success. Ask almost anyone to describe their feelings that accompany this ride, and they often will have a hard time putting them into words.
“It’s highly personal,” said Barron. “You are pushing your body to a physical limit, so there is a sense of personal accomplishment.”

Graves calls it a personal sacrifice, yet one he is glad to make. “It’s a feel-good thing; you’re participating in a sport that makes you feel good. … The awareness that we breed throughout the state of California is amazing.”
“It’s incredibly breathtaking,” Vasquez says. “You have to do it to really know what’s it like.”

All three men say they cherish the camaraderie, and the experience they take away from it is undeniably life changing.

Said Barron: “It is contagious – the goodwill, the sense of accomplishment, the belief in something larger than yourself.”



Why it is still important - HIV/AIDS Statistics
In San Francisco:
•    An estimated 800-1,000 people will become infected with HIV this year.
•    More than 18,000 people have died of AIDS since the epidemic began in 1981. Currently 27,592 are living with HIV.
•    90 percent of new infections are among gay men and other men who have sex with men.
•    Gay men who use methamphetamine are 2-4 times more likely to be living with HIV.

In Los Angeles:
•    An estimated 1,700 people will become infected with HIV this year.
•    More than 31,000 have died of AIDS since the epidemic began. An estimated 24,000 currently live with HIV.
•    Nearly 46 percent of California’s total cumulative HIV/AIDS diagnoses have occurred in Los Angeles.
•    71 percent of those living with AIDS are gay or bisexual men.

In California:
•    More than 190,000 Californians have reportedly contracted HIV/AIDS and more than 86,000 have died since the epidemic began in the early 1980s.
•    California ranks second in the nation in cumulative AIDS cases at 148,949, surpassed only by New York.
•    Up to 106,000 Californians are HIV-positive, while an additional 68,000 have AIDS.
•    There are up to 7,000 new HIV infections in the state every year.
•    76 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases occur among gay men, far exceeding the 53 percent nationally.
•    More than two-thirds of all Californians living with HIV reside in Los Angeles County or the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the United States:
•    Since the AIDS epidemic began in 1981, 1.7 million Americans have been infected with HIV and 583,298 have died of AIDS-related causes through 2007.
•    1.1 million Americans are living with HIV (including more than 468,000 with AIDS).
•    An estimated 21 percent of people living with HIV are undiagnosed.
•    There will be an estimated 56,300 HIV infections this year. Every 9 1/2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV.
•    Gay and bisexual men continue to bear the greatest burden of HIV infection, accounting for an estimated 53 percent of new HIV infections, and is the only group for which new infections are on the rise.
•    Young adults and teens between 13 and 29 represent 34 percent of new HIV infections, the largest share of any age group.

In the World:
•    Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, 60 million people have contracted HIV and 25 million have died of AIDS-related causes.
•    As of 2008, 33.4 million people were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.
•    The annual number of new HIV infections declined from 3.2 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2008. Still, more than 7,000 people contract HIV every day.
•    More than half of new infections are among those under 25 years of age.
•    Sub-Saharan Africa has been hardest hit by the epidemic. The region has 22.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS (67 percent of the worldwide total) and in 2008 accounted for 68 percent of all new HIV infections among adults, 91 percent of all new HIV infections among children and 72 percent of the world’s AIDS-related deaths — even though only 12 percent of the global population lives there.
•    Of the 2.1 million children living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 91 percent live in sub-Saharan Africa.
•    Africa has more than 12 million AIDS orphans.