Bicyclist organizes his own AIDS ride

Stephen Parish, a Minnesota man who had planned to participate in an Amsterdam-to-Paris bicycling fund-raiser for AIDS organizations last year but dropped out when he learned that only 20 cents of every dollar raised would be going to the charitable groups, has organized his own AIDS bicycling event that he hopes will raise $10,000 for HIV vaccine research, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Parish and seven other cyclists will start a three-day ride on October 11 from Hinckley, Minn., to Duluth, Minn. The group has already raised more than $5,000 for Emory University's Vaccine Research Center through pre-ride fund-raisers and corporate donations. The riders hope to raise at least another $5,000 in pledges for the ride. Parish said 90% of the money raised will go directly to the Emory vaccine center. He also hopes other activists around the country will organize their own smaller AIDS bicycling fund-raisers to benefit AIDS service organizations.