New group to hold D.C. AIDS bicycling fund-raiser (6341)

Tour de Friends, a new nonprofit HIV/AIDS fund-raising organization that opened September 24 in Washington, D.C., has announced that it will coordinate a three-city, two-state bicycle ride in 2003 as a fund-raiser for groups in North Carolina, Virginia, and the metro D.C. area. The event, planned for June 19-22, 2003, will benefit Washington's Food and Friends, Richmond, Va.'s Fan Free Clinic, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.'s Alliance of AIDS Services: Carolina. Riders will travel more than 300 miles from Raleigh through Richmond to Washington. The fund-raiser replaces the former Washington, D.C., AIDS Ride organized by the now-defunct Pallotta TeamWorks.

"With this launch, we are embracing friends, family, and generous strangers to pitch in and help us across two states and our nation's capital," said Mickie Ballotta, executive director of Tour de Friends. "As an independent and volunteer-driven nonprofit, we know that Tour de Friends can do more with less, and we will focus our entire mission on HIV and AIDS." Tour de Friends also plans to hold other non-bicycling fund-raisers for HIV/AIDS groups in the coming months. For more information or to register for the bicycling fund-raiser, call (202) 742-RIDE or go online to www.tourdefriends.com.