For World AIDS Day this year, which will be Dec. 1, the United Nations has once again proclaimed “Getting to Zero” as the campaign theme. This summer’s International AIDS Conference reminded us that after 30 years of tenacious community advocacy, action and involvement, the world is on the brink of a scenario that was unthinkable just a few years ago: the possibility of beginning to slow the AIDS epidemic in our lifetime.
To mark this year’s World AIDS Day, the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City will host two public events. The first event is a Community Luncheon, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 29, at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, Mo. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy assistant secretary for health, infectious diseases, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Advance reservations are required.
The second event is the World AIDS Day Reception being held from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, at the Berg Event Space, 1521 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. A donation of $50 at the door is requested. Reservations for both the Community Luncheon and Reception are required and can be made by calling 816-931-0959.
The goal of the Getting to Zero campaign is to focus on “zero” – zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths. Since 1993, the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City has strived to provide funds and assistance to our local AIDS Service organizations so that zero Kansas Citians living with HIV/AIDS are left without the resources they need to live healthy, productive lives.
More than 1.1 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. In Kansas City alone, more than 5,700 people are living with HIV/AIDS – 700 of them young people between the ages 13 and 24. Financial support of the World AIDS Day events will help provide prevention, treatment, shelter and the message of empowerment for those that need it most in Kansas City.
For more information and reservations,
contact Michael Lintecum at 816-931-0959.
