Thank you for visiting my fundraising page! Please support me by making a donation here to AIDS Walk San Francisco.

I am raising funds for the National AIDS Memorial this year at AIDS Walk San Francisco which will be on Sunday, July 21, 2024 in Golden Gate Park near the 10-acre National AIDS Memorial which is our nation's only federally-designated memorial dedicated to lives touched by AIDS.

In 2019 with the guidance of Nancy Pelosi and John Lewis a group of Board members along with the CEO of the National AIDS Memorial travelled to Atlanta to negotiate the return of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The Quilt was started in San Francisco in 1987, and the idea of the National AIDS Memorial Grove began to take shape in Golden Gate Park in 1989. The Quilt has more than 50,000 3 foot x 6 foot panels and is the largest folk art entity in the world. It is now digitized and you can see the panels on our website: www.aidsmemorial.org Please visit. The National AIDS Memorial has been bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt to the American south to combat the increasing HIV rate.

Since the beginning of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic 40 million people have died from the disease, and currently 39 million people live with HIV/AIDS of which only 76% are receiving therapy. Of patients living with HIV/AIDS 53% are women and 1.5 million are children. By 2018 700,000 Americans died of HIV/AIDS and in 2021 there were 32,100 new cases of HIV in the US. There are currently 1.2 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS and over 150,000 do not know they are infected.

I am honored to be the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the National AIDS Memorial. This is my 10th year on the Board. The Memorial helps tell the story of HIV/AIDS for future generations. The COVID pandemic encountered some of the same challenges.

As a member of the Board the funds I raise through AIDS Walk directly benefit the National AIDS Memorial, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the Storytelling project (impressive videos on the website), the Pedro Zamora Scholarships (>100 undergraduate scholarships with >$300K in student support - see the website) and a strong focus on health and social justice.

I am asking you to please help me reach my fund raising goal of $75,000. To DONATE please go to:

sf.aidswalk.net/raffintom

Thank you. Warm regards, Tom