More than 200
panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt representing each of
the 25 years of the global AIDS pandemic will be displayed
at the conclusion of the AIDS/LifeCycle fund-raiser
held for two California AIDS groups. The seven-day,
585-mile bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los
Angeles will wrap up with a closing ceremony in Los
Angeles's Brentwood neighborhood on June 10, where
nearly 4,000 feet of panels from the AIDS Memorial
Quilt and from the Sunburst Quilt, which honors children
lost to AIDS, will be displayed.
"The
AIDS/LifeCycle closing ceremony is an emotional event
honoring and celebrating the achievement of the
diverse community of heroes--from all
walks-of-life--who not only raise millions of dollars
for AIDS services and prevention but awareness that
the pandemic is not over," says AIDS/LifeCycle
director Chris Cole in a statement. "We're
honored to display a large portion of the quilt this
year as a reminder of the more than half
a million Americans we've lost to AIDS in the
last 25 years."
The closing
ceremony and quilt display is free and open to the public.
It will be held at 4 p.m. at the Veterans
Administration Grounds in Brentwood. The quilt panels
will be on display that day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The
AIDS/LifeCycle fund-raiser benefits the San Francisco AIDS
Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
Some of the goals of the event are to increase
awareness of and raise funds to support the
organizations' HIV programs and services, boost AIDS
awareness, and provide a life-affirming experience for
people affected and infected by HIV. For more
information about the event, go online to www.aidslifecycle.org.
The AIDS Memorial
Quilt was started by Cleve Jones and other San
Francisco activists in 1987 as a memorial to friends and
loved ones lost to the disease. Today, the quilt,
managed by the Atlanta-based Names Project Foundation,
contains more than 45,000 of the 3-by-6-foot
panels.
For more
information about the quilt, go online to www.aidsquilt.com.
